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Title: The Dyer's Guide

Author: Thomas Packer

Release date: December 23, 2016 [eBook #53797]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online
        Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
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Produced by Deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online
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Transcriber's Note.

Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. The use of hyphens has
been rationalised.

Italics are indicated by _underscores_. Small capitals have been
replaced by full capitals.




 THE DYER'S GUIDE.
 EPITOME OF COLOURS.


_Colours obtained by_ SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S _method of decomposing the rays
of light, the least refrangible being placed first, the most refrangible
last._ See p. 18.

 [Illustration:
 RED. ORANGE. YELLOW. GREEN.
 BLUE. INDIGO. VIOLET.]


 THE DYER'S COLOURS AND THEIR CHIEF COMPOUNDS.
 SIMPLE COLOURS.

 BLUE, YELLOW, RED, BLACK[1].
 RED _includes_ CRIMSON, SCARLET, MAROON, PINK, &c.


 COMPOUND COLOURS.

 GREEN is made with BLUE and YELLOW.

 ORANGE with RED and YELLOW.

 PURPLE ⎫
 VIOLET ⎬ with BLUE and RED.
 LILAC  ⎭

 GREYS with BLACK, BLUE, and RED.

             ⎧ BLUE, YELLOW, and BLACK;
 OLIVES with ⎨ or
             ⎩ BLUE, YELLOW and RED.


[1] BLACK according to the theory of Newton, denotes the _absence_, and
WHITE the _presence_ of all colours.




 THE
 DYER'S GUIDE;

 BEING A
 _COMPENDIUM OF THE ART OF DYEING_
 LINEN, COTTON, SILK, WOOL, MUSLIN, DRESSES,
 FURNITURE, &c. &c.

 WITH THE METHOD OF
 SCOURING WOOL, BLEACHING COTTON, &c.

 AND
 DIRECTIONS FOR UNGUMMING SILK, AND FOR WHITENING
 AND SULPHURING SILK AND WOOL.

 AND ALSO
 _AN INTRODUCTORY EPITOME OF THE LEADING FACTS IN CHEMISTRY,
 AS CONNECTED WITH THE ART OF DYEING._


 BY THOMAS PACKER,
 DYER AND PRACTICAL CHEMIST.


 "Cet arte est un des plus utiles et des plus merveilleux qu'on
 connoisse."
 CHAPTAL.

 "There is no art which depends so much on chemistry as dyeing."
 GARNETT.


 _SECOND EDITION_,
 CORRECTED AND MATERIALLY IMPROVED.

 LONDON:
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, GILBERT, AND PIPER,
 PATERNOSTER-ROW.

 1830.




PREFACE.


To insist on the utility of the present Manual is, assuredly,
superfluous. The favourable reception of the first edition, sometime
since out of print, has stimulated the author to revise the work
throughout, and to render it more deserving the public approbation. The
_Appendix_ to the first edition now forms a part of the _Introductory
Chapter_, to which it naturally belongs; to the whole have been added
such improvements as the present advanced state of knowledge, and
particularly chemical knowledge, has rendered absolutely necessary; and
which the _practical dyer_ will find of considerable importance and much
utility.

The following _letter_ from the late SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, the first chemist
of the age, appeared in the Preface to the first edition; it is here
again reprinted as some proof of the sufficiency of that learned man's
judgment, at least concerning the chemical theory of the art of dyeing.


 _No. 16, Berkeley Square_,
 _June 18, 1823_.

 SIR,

I am very much obliged to you for your liberal communication on a subject
of my Lectures: I will attend to the information you are so good as to
give me in the next Edition.

 I am Sir,
 Your obliged and obedient servant,
 H. DAVY.

 MR. T. PACKER,
 _Stamford Street, Black-Friars Road_.

The author has only to add, that an Index is now appended to the work, by
which every article may be most readily and conveniently found.

 _London, Nov. 1829._


 ERRATUM.
 Page 22, line 3, for _proximate_ read _ultimate_.




CONTENTS.


CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

                                                                     PAGE

 On the different branches of dyeing—On the drugs used in
 dyeing—On vegetable and animal substances—On substantive and
 adjective colours, and mordants—And on the leading facts of
 chemical science as connected with the art of dyeing—On the
 calico printer's mordant for yellow and red, and on compound
 colours—On bleaching—On the theory of fast and fugitive
 colours—On dye-houses and water—Miscellaneous observations             1


CHAPTER II.

ON DYEING COTTON.

 To dye cotton a Saxon or chemic blue—Sulphate of Indigo—Saxon or
 chemic green—To set a cold indigo vat—Another Indigo vat—To dye
 cotton a fast green with the cold indigo vat and weld—Another
 cold blue vat for linen and cotton—solution of indigo for
 penciling printed muslin, &c.—To dye cotton a fast buff—To dye
 cotton pink                                                           47


CHAPTER III.

ON DYEING SILK.

 To alum silk—The blue vat of indigo for silk—Another blue vat
 for silk—To dye silk violet, royal purple, &c.—To dye silk
 lilac—Another process for lilac—Another process for dyeing
 muslin, &c. lilac—To dye silk a violet or purple with logwood—To
 dye silk violet with Brazil wood and logwood—To dye silk violet
 or purple with Brazil wood and archil                                 63


CHAPTER IV.

ON SCOURING AND DYEING WOOL.

 On the action of alum and tartar upon wool—A pastil or woad vat
 for blue—To prepare the indigo mentioned in the preceding
 directions—Rules to judge of the state of the vat—Indications
 when a vat has had too much or too little lime—To work a vat
 which is in proper order—On the putrefaction of the woad
 vat—Methods of dyeing blues—To dye wool with lac-dye, scarlet,
 or crimson—To dye worsted yarn a crimson—A preparation of archil
 to finish the crimson—on dyeing wool scarlet—To dye wool
 maroon—To dye wool yellow—To dye wool brown or of a fawn
 colour—To dye wool purple, &c.—To dye wool green—A chemic vat
 for green woollen—A chemic vat for blue woollen—To dye wool
 orange, gold colour, &c.—To dye wool black—Another process for
 black without a blue ground—To dye wool a grey—Mixture of black
 or grey with red and blue—On browns, fawns, greys, &c.—On the
 yellow of Quercitron bark—On a full bright yellow from the same
 bark—Bancroft's murio-sulphate of tin—To dye wool buff—To dye
 wool peach—To set an indigo vat for worsted, serge, &c.               70


CHAPTER V.

ON DYEING SILK AND COTTON BLACK.

 To dye silk black for velvets—To dye silk black _London
 process_—On dyeing cotton black at _Rouen_—To dye cotton black,
 _London process_—For dyeing black, particularly cotton velvets,
 at _Manchester_—On dyeing silk and cotton black with a blue
 ground—Another iron liquor—To dye cotton black by using the
 preceding solution—to dye cotton violet—To dye cotton red—To
 dye cotton an Adrianople or Turkey red—Miscellaneous observations
 relative to Adrianople red                                           105


CHAPTER VI.

ON DYEING COTTON AND SILK.

 To dye skein cotton yellow—On dyeing and re-dyeing cotton
 furniture yellow—to dye cotton skein a duck's wing green and
 olive—Of browns, maroons, coffee colours, &c.—Observations on
 silk—On ungumming and boiling silk—Whitening—Sulphuring—On
 aluming silk—Skein silk for yellow—Preparation of annatto for
 aurora or orange, moidore, gold colour, and chamois—To dye silk
 aurora or orange—To dye moidore—Process for orange—To dye silk
 poppy or coquelicot—A cheaper poppy with annatto and Brazil
 wood—On dyeing, silk a fine crimson—Composition for dyeing silks
 scarlet or crimson with cochineal—Another process for
 crimson—Another process for crimson by Brazil wood—Of fine
 violet—Observations on crimson and scarlet upon silk—On dyeing
 silk green—On olives—On dyeing silk grey—Nut grey—Black
 greys—Iron greys—On dyeing silk of a Prussian blue
 colour—Chromate of lead for yellow on silk or cotton—Conclusion      123

Index                                                                 153




THE DYER'S GUIDE.




CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

_On the different branches of dyeing—On the drugs used in dyeing—On
vegetable and animal substances—On substantive and adjective colours and
mordants, and on the leading facts of chemical science, as connected with
the art of dyeing—On the Calico-Printers' mordant for yellow and red,
and on compound colours—On bleaching—On the theory of fast and fugitive
colours—On dye-houses and water—Miscellaneous observations._


The trade of a Dyer is, in this country, subdivided into several distinct
branches. Thus we have _woollen dyers_, who are occupied solely in the
colours obtained from _cochineal_, such as _scarlet_, _crimson_,
_orange_, _buff_, _&c._; likewise _purple_, or _royal purple_, obtained
from _cochineal_ and _indigo_. They are called, also, _grain dyers_, from
the circumstance of the colouring material, cochineal, being in small
grains[2]. Yet it ought to be observed, that the term _dyed in grain_ is
applied by the public generally in a very different sense, namely, to
those cloths the raw material of which is dyed previously to being spun
into thread, or at least before woven into cloth; and hence such dyes are
usually more permanent than those which are dyed after the materials are
woven into cloth. This class of dyers generally dye cloth in the piece,
or a number of pieces of cloth tacked together, and worked over a winch
in a suitable copper.

There are dyers who likewise dye worsted and woollen yarn of those grain
colours, but they are generally a distinct branch. The yarn is dyed in
hanks, upon sticks; and, when in the copper, the hanks are changed end
for end, so that they may be kept even; such changing being performed
five or six times to each turning in.

There are also silk dyers who are grain dyers. These dye in the skein,
chiefly for new goods. Some silk, and some mixed silk and worsted goods,
are dyed in the piece.

In _dyeing cotton_, the _Adrianople_ or _Turkey Red_ is, in many cases, a
branch of itself, and comes the nearest to what may be called grain or
scarlet dyeing upon cotton, because cochineal cannot be applied to cotton
to any advantage; yet cotton is occasionally dyed with this material.

In woollen another branch consists of the _woad dyers_. These often
superintend the black dye on woollen cloth, as well as the blue from woad
and indigo. There is the same distinction among _worsted yarn dyers_,
they having likewise to do slates, greys, &c. Nearly the same may be said
of the _silk skein dyers_.

In many places, particularly in the country, browns, drabs,
stone-colours, &c. constitute a branch in woollen. The same colours form
also a branch in calico and muslin; but _black_, in calico and muslin, is
a distinct branch.

The dyers (whether in London or provincial towns) who keep shops, and
take in garments, furniture, &c. to be dyed, are termed by the trade
_Rag-dyers_.

There are a few dyers in the metropolis who dye _black_ on woollen, silk,
cotton, &c. for the dye-shops, many of these putting all their black out
to be dyed.

There are one or two dyers famous for dyeing silk stockings _black_;
these constitute a particular branch. Dyeing bombasins black is also
another branch.

The following constitute also particular branches: _black hats,—hats of
fancy colours,—fur,—chip and straw,—feathers,—leather, Morocco and
Spanish, and kid leather for shoes and gloves_. Many other branches of
the dye-trade might be enumerated, but more detail does not appear
necessary.

Concerning all these different branches, one general observation will
suffice; namely, that those who are concerned in them have, for the most
part, obtained, their knowledge of the art of dyeing, not from theories
adapted to explain the different processes, but from practice in that
branch in which they are occupied. They usually, therefore, perform those
processes which they have been shewn and told, without any inquiry into
the causes which produce the results. There are, it is admitted,
exceptions to this, men of general information and knowledge being
occasionally found in the various branches of dyeing, but they are so
few, that it may be questioned, when compared with the great body
employed in the art, whether they amount to one in a thousand. This is
not, however, to be attributed to any indifference in such persons to
acquire a correct knowledge of the art, but is chiefly owing to a
deficiency of the ready means of acquiring such information; which
information it is the design of the present Treatise to supply; there not
being, as far as the present writer knows, any such work, at a moderate
price, to be obtained in the English language.

It is true many of the _Cyclopædias_ furnish us with much useful
information on the subject of dyeing: one of these, JENNINGS'S _Family
Cyclopædia_, may be particularly mentioned as containing such; but it is
scattered about in these dictionaries in various ways, at once
troublesome and unpleasant to obtain. Dr. BANCROFT'S work on the
philosophy of _Permanent Colours_, in two octavo volumes, will also
supply much valuable information; so also will the edition, some time
since published, of BERTHOLLET'S _Elements of the art of Dyeing_, with
the addition of valuable _Notes_ by Dr. URE. Dr. URE'S _Chemical
Dictionary_ is also very useful to the dyer, us well as many detached
papers in several of our English publications. A _Treatise on Printing
and Dyeing Silks, &c._ lately published by H. M'KERNAN, is also valuable,
and should be consulted by the curious in this art. But all these works
are expensive, and such as few dyers will be disposed to obtain; hence
the necessity of the present Manual, the author of which has not
servilely followed the directions or recommendations of any previous
writer; but from his own practice, a practice of more than thirty years,
has laid down such rules as he knows to be at once practical and
efficient. At the same time he thinks it right to state, that he has not
only consulted all the works mentioned above, but also _Hellot, Macquer,
&c._ adopting all that appeared essential in these, and giving such
additions as accord with the present improved state of chemistry and
dyeing; and, as far as was possible, in the limits prescribed for this
work, so that it may be within the reach of every dyer in the kingdom, as
well as every journeyman and apprentice in all the various branches of
this truly extensive and mysterious art, as carried on in London,
Norwich, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, and various other parts of the
British dominions.

The author has, in treating of the various matters to be dyed, adopted
nearly the same arrangement as that which appears in the _Title_, taking
_Cotton_ first, in consequence of its having the least affinity for
dyeing bodies. He has taken _Silk_ next, which has a greater affinity for
many dyes, and, when dyed, yields colours more permanent than cotton.

_Wool_ he has not placed entirely last, although many of the colours
which it receives from the dyer are complex. The _black dyeing_ of
_cotton_ and _silk_ is placed after the processes of black for wool, as
likewise the _Turkey red_, _&c._ these being naturally difficult to
perform.

_White_ and _black_ have been considered colours by dyers, and with
propriety, black forming a part of slate, grey, &c. White is seldom pure;
in proportion to its clearness and purity will the colours be with which
it is dyed.

In regard to _black dye_, and particularly _cotton black dye_, the author
does not know any simple and concise theory, consistent with chemical
principles. He flatters himself, however, that from his extensive
experience, his observations are founded on interesting facts. Cotton,
for instance, will take fast blues from the cold indigo vat; this vat,
with the combination of iron, and in a heat no greater than the hand can
bear, will easily produce all shades of grey, slate, &c. Many of these
colours may be done by logwood instead of the blue vat, and in the same
heat of the dye bath; so cotton likewise, whether in pieces or skeins,
may be dyed brown, fawn, drab, &c. in consequence of the great affinity
which cotton has for acetate and sulphate of iron.

With respect to _black_, it should be also observed, that few substances
are known which yield _by themselves_ a good black. The juice of the
_cashew nut_ communicates, however, a black colour, which resists not
only washing, but even boiling with soap and alkaline leys. It is used
for marking linen. The _Toxicodendron_ yields a juice which produces
nearly the same effect. Some other vegetables also produce black dyes,
but all of them in such small quantities as not to be available for the
purposes of art; nor do they, besides, produce blacks equal to those
formed in the dye-house.

_Blue_, _red_, and _yellow_ are admitted to be three distinct colours. In
many of the _browns_, red and yellow are combined naturally in the drugs
from which they are produced, and so they are in logwood. Blue, red, and
yellow, are developed by _iron_, whether in the state of an acetate or
sulphate.

It may be useful, before we proceed any farther in noticing the theories
of dyeing, to give a brief description of the


_Drugs Applicable to Dyeing._

ALUM, or _potash-sulphate of alumina_, is a concrete salt, composed of
alumina or clay, potash, and sulphuric acid. It is found native in some
places; but the greatest part of the alum of commerce is prepared by a
peculiar management of schistose pyritic clays, usually denominated _alum
ores_. Alum is made at Civita Vecchia, in Italy, and also at many other
places on the continent; at Hurlett near Glasgow, at Whitby in Yorkshire,
&c. Its form and appearance are both too well known to need being
described. Its chemical composition is as follows: sulphate of alumina,
36.70; sulphate of potash, 18.88; and water, 44.42—together 100. The
alum called in commerce _Roch alum_, said to be obtained from Roccha, in
Syria, is in smaller crystals than common alum, and has a reddish hue,
but does not appear to be essentially different from the common alum.
Common alum requires sixteen parts of water, at a temperature of 60°. to
dissolve one of it; but there is another kind not generally made or
known, containing _soda_ instead of potash, and hence with propriety
named _soda-sulphate of alumina_, which is soluble in less than its own
weight of water, and which, on this account, may become valuable in some
processes of dyeing.—URE.

ACETATE OF ALUMINA is prepared in large quantities for the calico
printers, by decomposing alum with acetate of lead, or more economically
with aqueous acetate of lime, having a specific gravity of about 1.050, a
gallon of which, equivalent to nearly half a pound avoirdupoise of dry
acetic acid, is employed for every 2½ lbs. of alum. A sulphate of lime
is formed by complex affinity which precipitates, and an acetate of
alumina floats.—URE.

ARCHIL, ARCHILLA, ROCELLA, ORSEILLE, or LITMUS, is said to be a whitish
lichen growing upon rocks in the Canary and Cape Verd islands, which
yields a rich purple tincture, fugitive, but extremely beautiful. It is
brought to this country as it is gathered; it is prepared here for the
dyer, by grinding it between stones, so as thoroughly to bruise but not
to reduce it into powder; it is moistened occasionally with a strong
spirit of urine, or urine itself, mixed with quicklime; in a few days it
acquires a purplish red, and at length a blue colour; in the first state
it is called _archil_, in the latter _lacmus_ or _litmus_. The dyers
rarely employ this drug by itself, on account of its dearness and the
perishableness of its beauty. Its chief use is to give a bloom to other
colours, as pinks, &c.

CUDBEAR is also manufactured in this country from archil, and is in
repute for dyeing various shades, from pink and crimson to a mazarine
blue; it is said these colours are very permanent.

ARGOL, or TARTAR, is a crystalline substance deposited in wine casks
during the fermentation of the wine, from the juice of the grape, in
which it exists in considerable abundance. It is an impure _supertartate
of potash_; that is, potash combined with a superabundant quantity of
_tartaric acid_. Algol is found in commerce of two colours, _white_ and
_red_. _Cream of tartar_ is the same substance freed from colouring and
other extraneous matter.

BLOOD. See ADRIANOPLE RED.

BRAN acts in some peculiar way on colouring matter, but scarcely on the
mordants. It seems to loosen and remove the colouring matter; as also to
alter its hue in some cases, an effect obvious in the bran pinks.—URE.

CHLORINE. See OXYMURIATIC ACID.

COCHINEAL is the female insect of the _coccus cacti_ found on the _cactus
coccinellifer_ and _cactus opuntia_, _Prickly pear_ or _Indian fig_,
natives of South America, the West Indies, and other tropical regions.
The female of the insect is the true cochineal; in her full sized,
pregnant, and torpid state, she bears so small a proportion to her former
or creeping state, that her antennæ, legs and proboscis are scarcely
discernible; her whole appearance is that of a whitish berry, and so it
was formerly regarded. This insect is found in a wild state in Mexico,
Georgia, South Carolina, and some of the West India Islands, feeding on
several species of the _cactus_; but in some of the Spanish settlements,
as well as in Mexico, the insect is domesticated, and fed on the cactus
coccinellifer, which is cultivated for the purpose, on which it attains a
much larger size than in its wild state. Cochineal is also obtained from
the East Indies; but East Indian cochineal has not yet attained the
quality of that produced in the West Indies and America. Its use, as a
colour for dyeing many shades of red, &c. is great and important.

COPPER is also used in dyeing, in the state of a _sulphate_ or _blue
copperas_, a _nitrate_, and also as an _acetate_. See VERDIGRIS.

The GALL or BILE of ANIMALS consists of a saponaceous bitter, yellowish
fluid, secreted by the liver, and found in the sac usually called the
gall-bladder. It is sometimes preferred to soap for cleansing cloths by
the dyer and the scourer.

GALLS are excrescences produced on the _quercus infectoria_, a species of
oak growing throughout Asia Minor. The gall grows on the shoots of the
young boughs, and is produced by an insect, the _cynips quercusfolii_;
this insect punctures the tender shoot with its sting and deposits its
egg in the puncture; the egg is soon hatched, and the irritation of the
maggot feeding on the plant produces the wen or gall-nut. When the nuts
are gathered before the worm within changes to a fly, and not yet having
eaten its way out, they are of a dusky green colour, and are called in
commerce _blue_ galls, and are by far the best. Those collected after the
fly has eaten its way out have a hole in each, are of a whitish yellow
colour, considerably lighter than the blue-galls, and of an inferior
quality: they are brought to this country chiefly from Aleppo. They are
used in large quantities in the arts, principally for dyeing, and making
ink. They contain a large quantity of _Tannin_ and _Gallic acid_.

INDIGO is a well known deep blue substance, obtained from the _Indigofera
tinctoria_ or Indigo bearing plant, a native of the East Indies, which is
propagated by seed and will thrive in most tropical climates; hence we
have good indigo from South America, the East Indies, Carolina, &c. The
chief criterion of the goodness of indigo is, if, when cut with a knife,
it exhibits a reddish copper-like appearance; where this shade is not, or
only very slight, the indigo is of inferior value. It is prepared by
macerating the leaves in water, whence is obtained the blue feculence or
indigo. Indigo is insoluble in water, but soluble in sulphuric acid,
hence a solution of it in this acid, forming a _sulphate of indigo_, is
well known in the art of dyeing.

The best indigo is that called _Flora_, which floats in water, all the
other kinds sink in that fluid.

The constituent parts of indigo are Carbon, 73.22, Nitrogen 11.26, Oxygen
12.60, and Hydrogen, 2.92, = 100.

When indigo is digested in concentrated sulphuric acid, it is converted
into a peculiar blue substance, commonly called _sulphate of indigo_;
this colouring matter has been, however, lately named CERULIN, by MR. W.
CRUM, who has made many experiments on it; (see notes to _Bertholet_,
vol. ii. p. 357. et seq.) he observes that _cerulin_ dissolves more
abundantly in sulphuric acid than water; but this does not prove the
formation of a compound entitled to be called sulphate of indigo; that,
such a solution differs in no respect from that of resins in acids or in
alcohol. Another substance has been also obtained from indigo by MR.
CRUM, of a purple colour, which he calls _Phenicin_; it dissolves both in
water and alcohol.

IRON rarely in its metallic state enters into the manipulations of
dyeing, but its _sulphate_, _muriate_, _acetate_, &c. as well as its
_oxides_ contribute largely to the dyer's art.

SULPHATE OF IRON, or _green copperas_, as it is commonly called, is too
well known to need description; it is in green crystals of different
sizes, and is used for various purposes in dyeing, &c.

PERACETATE OF IRON, or ACETATE OF IRON, forms a reddish-brown
uncrystallizable solution, much used by the calico printers, and is
prepared by keeping iron turnings or pieces of old iron for six months
immersed in redistilled pyrolignous acid. It may be also prepared in a
more expeditious way by boiling filings of iron with the acid.

LAC DYE and LAC LAKE are two articles now regularly imported from the
East Indies, and employed for dyeing scarlet. They both appear to be the
colouring matter of seed-lac, obtained from it in India by a process not
generally known. Both these articles are in lumps or cakes of a
dark-reddish or blackish colour.

MURIATIC ACID, or _spirit of salt_, as it was formerly called, is
obtained from common salt or muriate of soda, by distillation with
sulphuric acid. When this acid is pure it is perfectly colourless, but it
generally has a yellow hue arising from a little iron. It gives out, at
all temperatures, a large quantity of a fuming suffocating gas of a
peculiar smell. Its usual specific gravity is about 1.160. For the basis
of this acid see OXYMURIATIC ACID.

NITRIC ACID is composed of oxygen and nitrogen: it is usually obtained
from _nitre_, (the chemical name of which is _nitrate of potash_,) by
distilling three parts of it with two of sulphuric acid. When pure,
nitric acid is a colourless, extremely sour, and corrosive liquor. Its
specific gravity is 1.42; it always contains more or less water, which
modifies its specific gravity. It is usually coloured with nitrous acid
gas. It forms a variety of compounds with numerous other bodies. _Aqua
fortis_ is this acid diluted more or less with water; when strong it is
called _double_, when weak _single aqua fortis_. For NITROGEN, _see
forwards_.

NITRO-MURIATIC ACID, or AQUA REGIA, is a mixture of nitric and muriatic
acids. It is usually made by dissolving sal ammoniac or common salt in
nitric acid. When the former is employed the usual proportion is one of
the salt to four of the acid; but equal parts will be necessary to
dissolve _platinum_. _Aqua regia_ is the only menstruum which will
dissolve gold.

ORPIMENT, REALGAR, or SULPHURET of ARSENIC has been lately applied to the
purposes of dyeing a yellow colour. Sulphur may be combined with arsenic
in different proportions. Realgar is red, and occurs native in Germany
and Switzerland; it is also produced by art. Orpiment is commonly
produced by art and is of a yellowish colour; native orpiment is also
occasionally found; it is of a bright lemon colour.

OXYMURIATIC ACID, or as it is now more correctly termed CHLORINE, from
its yellowish green colour, is an elastic gaseous fluid of a pungent
disagreeable smell, and highly injurious to animal life, even when
largely diluted with atmospheric air. Mixed with hydrogen, and exposed to
light, they combine and produce a sour compound called _muriatic acid_
gas; this gas is greedily absorbed by water, which takes up 480 times its
bulk, and has its specific gravity increased from 1 to 1.210. Thus
dissolved in water it forms the _liquid muriatic acid_ mentioned in a
preceding article.

Chlorine forms combination, besides, with several other bodies; many of
its combinations are termed _oxymuriates_, or more properly, _chlorides_:
some of these are extremely useful in bleaching, dyeing, &c. The
_muriatic acid_ appears to be the only acid of any consequence into which
oxygen does not enter.

OXIDE is the combination of oxygen with some base, without being in the
state of acid; it is most commonly applied to the combination of oxygen
with metals; most of the different rusts of metals are oxides. As oxygen
combines with the metals and other bodies in different proportions, its
combinations are distinguished by different prefixes, thus: _protoxide_
denotes an oxide containing the least quantity of oxygen: _deutoxide_ the
next larger quantity; _tritoxide_ the next; and _peroxide_ the largest
possible quantity of oxygen in the compound when it is not acid. For
OXYGEN _see forwards_.

POT-ASHES and PEARL-ASHES (one of the fixed alkalies) are both impure
_carbonates of potash_ obtained from the ashes of innumerable vegetables,
over which water is poured which dissolves the salts, and by evaporating
the water leaving the salt, a dry powdery white mass is obtained. The
chief difference between pot-ashes and pearl-ashes consists in the
superior whiteness of the latter, and in the former being of a more dirty
colour, and more caustic than the latter; hence it is not so highly
saturated with carbonic acid. For many purposes in the arts such caustic
potash is to be preferred.

QUERCITRON, or AMERICAN-BARK is obtained from the _quercus nigra_ or
black oak, a native of North America. It is used for dyeing yellow, and
was brought into notice by DR. BANCROFT, who obtained the exclusive
privilege of using it as a dye by an Act of Parliament, passed in the
25th year of the reign of George III.

SAFFLOWER, _bastard-saffron_ or _carthamus_, is obtained from one or two
plants, species of the _carthamus_ genus, natives of the South of Europe
and the Mediterranean coasts. This dyeing material consists of two
colouring substances, a yellow and a red. The former is of little value,
the latter which is soluble in alkalies forms, by precipitation with
acids, a beautiful red pigment sometimes used for silk dyeing, but more
commonly in the preparation of _rouge_.

SODA, called sometimes mineral alkali, is another of the fixed alkalies;
it forms the basis of common salt, that being a muriate of soda; soda,
under the name of _barilla_, is used in making soaps, and also in dyeing.

SULPHUR, or BRIMSTONE, is scarcely used for dyeing in its crude state,
but when combined with oxygen forming _sulphuric acid_, as well as when
that acid is combined with various bases, as _iron_, _alumina_, &c. it
becomes of great importance in this art; see SULPHURIC ACID.

SULPHATE OF IRON, see IRON above.

SULPHURIC ACID was for many years, and still is called by the vulgar,
_oil of vitriol_, because it was formerly obtained from green vitriol or
sulphate of iron, but the more simple and ingenious processes of modern
chemistry have superseded the old methods; sulphuric acid is now obtained
by burning sulphur with a certain portion of saltpetre in large leaden
cisterns. The acid fumes sink into the water placed at the bottom of the
cistern, the water being afterwards boiled away: the acid is afterwards
purified by retorts, placed in a sand heat. The specific gravity of good
sulphuric acid should be 1.85.

SUMACH is the production of the _rhus coriaria_, a shrub which grows
naturally in Syria, Palestine, Spain, and Portugal. It is cultivated in
the two last countries with great care. Its shoots are cut down every
year quite to the root, and after being dried are reduced to powder, and
thus prepared for the purposes of dyeing, &c. Sumach bears a great
resemblance, as an astringent, to galls. Sumach alone gives a brown and a
fawn colour, but cotton stuffs impregnated with acetate of alumina take a
durable yellow from it.

TARTAR, see ARGOL.

TIN, dissolved in nitric or muriatic acid, forms solutions of great
importance in many processes of dyeing, particularly scarlet. These
solutions are called respectively _nitrate_ and _muriate of tin_.

TURMERIC is a root obtained from a plant growing both in the East and
West Indies. The root is used chiefly for dyeing yellow; but it is a
fugacious colour.

VERDIGRIS is a crude _acetate of copper_, obtained by exposing copper
plates to the husks, &c. of grapes, which containing considerable acetic
acid, the acid combines with the surface of the copper plates, forming a
blueish green rust, which is scraped off, and forms the verdigris of
commerce. A still more complete acetate of copper is obtained in
_distilled verdigris_, which is in elegant green crystals. The best
verdigris is made in France; some is now also made in this country.

WELD, sometimes called improperly WOULDS, _dyer's-weed_, or _Reseda
luteola_, is a plant found wild, in this country, but cultivated for the
purposes of the dyer; it is much used for yellows.

WOAD, or PASTEL, is obtained from a plant growing in various parts of
Europe and also in this country; it is the _Isatis tinctoria_, and is
cultivated with care for the dyeing matter which it affords, and which is
obtained from the leaves of the plant, collected and prepared in a
particular manner. Woad gives a full-bodied and fast blue to wool, yet
not very bright, so that it is usually mixed with indigo[3].

Besides the preceding substances we may mention that _annatto_ is used
for dyeing several colours; _kermes_, _madder_, and _Brazil wood_ for
_reds_; _logwood_ for _purple_ and _black_; _peach-wood_ for _maroon_,
&c. _fustic_, _dyer's-broom_, _saw-wort_, _French-berries_, &c. for
_yellow_; _walnut-root_, and the outside _green shell of the nuts_ for
_browns_. We may also mention _prussiate of potash_, _acetate of lead_,
commonly called _sugar of lead_, and _oxide of manganese_, as occasional
articles used for various purposes by the dyer. Several other substances
are also used in dyeing, which we cannot enumerate; some are mentioned in
the subsequent pages. We may, however, name _cam-wood_, _bar-wood_,
_redsanders_, and _myrobolans_. We ought also to observe that how
desirable soever it may be to have all _woods_ for dyeing, in powder, in
order to obtain the greatest quantity of colouring matter from them by
decoction or otherwise, yet, as in a _powdered_ state they are much more
likely to be adulterated than in _chips_, it is most advisable to
purchase them in this last state; _logwood_ in particular ought never to
be purchased in powder.


_On the Component Parts of Vegetable and Animal substances._

In order more correctly to understand the theory and practice of dyeing,
it is essential that the pupil should become acquainted with the nature
of the substances upon which and with which he must necessarily operate.
We shall not enter into the theories of _light_ and of _colours_, as
propounded by Sir Isaac Newton, as well as many illustrious chemists, who
have already done so much for the art of dyeing, but shall simply refer
to such writers as URE, BANCROFT, BERTHOLLET, BRANDE, &c. from whom may
be learnt what is of most importance to be known concerning this curious
subject.

We may just add, however, in regard to _light_, that Sir Isaac Newton
proved it consists of rays differing from each other in their relative
refrangibilities. By causing light to pass through a hole in a
window-shutter into a darkened room, and receiving that light on a glass
prism, the rays, in passing through the prism, not only became
_refracted_, that is, thrown out, of the rectilinear direction, but also
_separated_ into seven distinct colours, namely, _red_, _orange_,
_yellow_, _green_, _blue_, _indigo_, and _violet_. The red being the
least refracted and violet the most. If these prismatic, or _primary_
colours, as they are usually called, be divided into 360 equal parts, the
red rays will occupy 45 of these parts, the orange 27, the yellow 48, the
green 60, the blue 60, the indigo 40, and the violet 80, and, what is
very remarkable, these colours, when mixed in the proportions here set
down, produce _white_. This may be readily proved by mixing seven powders
of the colours and quantity mentioned, or by painting a wheel with the
same proportions of the different colours and making it revolve rapidly.
But it should be noted, that, in either case, the _white_ will not be so
pure and delicate, as that produced by the mixture of the rays of light.
Upon these phenomena is founded the Newtonian theory of colours. Thus
green bodies reflect the green rays and absorb the others. All the rays
are reflected by white bodies, and absorbed by those which are black.

It is, notwithstanding, highly necessary that the learner should know
that portion of _modern chemistry_ which will lead him to the best
secrets of his art, and hence assure him of that which was only before
conjecture. And it cannot be sufficiently impressed upon him, that if our
theory be not true, we work from wrong _data_; we may, it is true,
approach the truth; be right in some things and wrong in others, and our
uncertainty and mistakes will be accordingly; yet the most complete dyer
must be he, who with extensive practice combines a knowledge of the true
principles of his art, to which modern chemistry is, doubtless, the key.

It is scarcely necessary to insist further on the importance of a
knowledge of the constituent parts of vegetable and animal bodies, as
well as those inorganic substances with which chemistry has so largely to
deal; but it will be seen, in the course of our subsequent observations,
what difficulty there is in _dyeing cotton_ of a red colour, similar to
that produced by cochineal on _wool_; how, in dyeing _cotton yarn_ an
_Adrianople red_, the intestinal liquor of the sheep, and the dung and
the blood of the same animal are used, and have been found so important
by the dyers of Asia; hence the colour is called the _Adrianople_ or
_Turkey red_.

It is found by experience, and particularly in hot climates, that
substances containing _ammonia_ (volatile alkali) quite developed, have
the property of raising and rendering more intense the red colours. It
has been found, too, that the bones of animals retain the colour of
_madder_ very strongly, when they have been given that colouring
material; and the vivacity of the colour has been attributed in such
cases, it is presumed with truth, to the ammonia which the bones contain.

There are, therefore, in regard to _vegetables_ in particular, some
things, the nature and properties of which it is absolutely necessary
that the dyer should understand: for want of a knowledge of one of them,
it is a fact that losses are very often sustained to a serious amount. It
may seem surprising, but the author has not seen in any writer on dyeing
or chemistry, a proper method of working the pastil or _woad vat_; nor
how to renew and work it down, again and again, with an assurance that it
will be neither decomposed nor spoiled; and which, for want of a proper
knowledge, it has often been. We shall therefore endeavour to give some
directions by which those fatal and expensive disasters may be avoided.

Although, at first sight, it seems easy to distinguish the three kingdoms
of nature from each other, yet there is such an imperceptible transition
from one to the other, that it will be difficult to give such a
definition as shall embrace all the individuals of each, and, at the same
time, exclude those of the other kingdoms. On examination, indeed, we do
find that there is in fact no natural distinction of this kind; and that
there is scarcely a function common to vegetables and minerals which some
of the animal tribe do not enjoy, and _vice versâ_. Yet it must, however,
be noted, that most animals have the power of voluntary loco-motion, and
are thus rendered peculiarly different from all other bodies which we
find upon or in the earth.

The substances constituting _vegetable_ differ from those constituting
_mineral_ bodies, in their being of a more complex kind; and though
vegetables are extremely susceptible of decomposition in various ways,
not one can be, by any art, synthetically produced. Yet, although what
are called by chemists the _proximate constituents of vegetables_ are
numerous, such are _water_, _starch_, _sugar_, _gum_, _gluten_, _wax_,
_oil_, _camphor_, _resins_, _colouring matter_, _extractive matter_,
_several acids_, &c. &c. all of which are capable of being decomposed,
the _ultimate constituents of vegetables_ are very few; the chief are
_carbon_, _hydrogen_, and _oxygen_; some afford _nitrogen_; in some are
traces of _sulphur_, _potassa_, _lime_, _soda_, _magnesia_, _silica_,
&c. in nearly all vegetables are traces of _iron_; in many _manganese_.

As the _proximate principles_ of vegetables are chiefly carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, it will be useful to inquire how vegetables obtain these
materials. Water, which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, is a ready
source whence both its constituents may be obtained; and it is concluded
that it is decomposed in the glands of vegetables, assisted by solar
light, and becomes fixed in them in the state of _oil_, _extract_,
_mucilage_, &c. The greatest part, however, of vegetables consists of
_carbon_, or, to make ourselves more intelligible, _pure charcoal_; the
carbon, notwithstanding its solidity in the shape of charcoal, most
readily combines with oxygen, and hence it forms, as carbonic acid, a
small portion of atmospheric air, from which source the carbon of plants
is in part at least derived. Another source from which plants derive
their carbon is the earth, and decaying vegetable matters; the dung of
animals supplies also some of the constituents of vegetables. Indeed, in
the application of dung and other matters, so as to promote the healthy
and vigorous growth of vegetables, does the science of agriculture
chiefly consist. It appears, however, that nourishment is received
principally, if not entirely, by plants in a liquid or gaseous form. It
should be noticed too, that few, if any, healthy vegetables will grow any
where except in _light_, a powerful stimulant at all times, not only to
plants but to animals; such are its effects, that many _dyes_ in cloth
are materially altered, nay, sometimes destroyed by it.

_Animal substances_ thus differ from vegetables: they afford a
considerable quantity of _ammonia_, (which is, it is now known, a
compound body consisting of _hydrogen_ and _nitrogen_), and very fetid
products, either by the action of fire, or by the putrid fermentation.
They also putrify more readily and speedily than vegetables, and give out
a very disagreeable smell. They also contain a considerable quantity of
_nitrogen_, the presence of which constitutes the most striking
peculiarity of animal compared with vegetable bodies; but as some
vegetables contain nitrogen, so there are certain animal principles into
the composition of which nitrogen does not enter. The chief _ultimate
principles_ then of animal matter are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and
nitrogen; but _phosphorus_ and _sulphur_ are also often contained in it.
_Lime_ also exists in animal bones and shells in considerable quantity,
usually, however, in combination with the _phosphoric_ and the _carbonic
acid_. The chief _proximate principles_ of animal matter are _blood_,
_albumen_, _gelatine_, _colouring matter_, _milk_, _bile_, _lymph_,
_urine_, _skin_, _muscle_, _horn_, _hair_, _fat_, _cerebral substance_,
_shell_, and _bone_, &c.

The differences between vegetable and animal bodies appear to depend upon
animal matter containing _nitrogen_ in much greater abundance than it is
found in vegetables; and hence the decomposition of animal matter by
destructive distillation is characterized by the presence of _ammonia_,
which is formed by the union of the hydrogen with the nitrogen; and it is
sometimes so abundantly generated as to be the leading product: thus when
_horns_, _hoofs_, or _bones_ are distilled by themselves, a quantity of
solid carbonate of ammonia and of the same substance combined with a
fœtid oil, and dissolved in water, are obtained. Hence the preparations
called _salt_ and _spirit of hartshorn_ and _animal oil_.

The principal animal fluids are _blood_, _milk_, and _bile_. The blood,
soon after it is taken from the living animal, separates into two parts,
one called the _crassamentum_, which is _red_, and the other _serum_,
which is a fluid, and of a pale straw-colour; the crassamentum is a more
firm and consistent mass than the serum, by which it is usually, when
cool, surrounded. _Milk_ consists of _serum_ or _whey_, _butter_, which
while floating on the milk is called _cream_, and _curd_ or _cheese_,
which has the leading properties of coagulated albumen. The _bile_, as
has been before stated, is a saponaceous fluid consisting chiefly of
_albumen_, _soda_, a _bitter resin_, _water_, and some other saline
matter. _Fat_, in the dead animal, is merely animal oil in a concrete or
hardened state.

The principal animal solids besides _bone_, are _albumen_, _gelatine_,
and _fibrin_. These substances, in certain states of concretion and
combination, form all the solids of animals, and are separable from each
other by easy analysis.

By whatever means we deprive animal substances of their nitrogen, we
reduce them to a state similar to that of vegetables. The muscular fibre,
or _flesh_ as it is usually called, when excluded from the air, but
particularly if in contact with water, parts with its nitrogen, and is
converted into a substance resembling spermaceti, which in its analysis
agrees with vegetable expressed oil.

When vegetables and animals are deprived of life, their various parts,
and especially their fluids, sooner or later, spontaneously assume
processes which terminate in their total decomposition. The earlier
stages which lead to their decomposition are termed _fermentation_. Of
this there are three kinds; the first, or _vinous fermentation_, takes
place in vegetable juices which contain a considerable quantity of sugar,
such are the juices of the _grape_ forming _wine_, of the _apple_ forming
_cyder_, &c. In this fermentation a considerable quantity of carbonic
acid gas is disengaged; this gas is very destructive to animal life, no
one can live for a minute in it. If, after the vinous fermentation is
completed, the liquor be exposed for some time to atmospheric air,
another fermentation takes place, oxygen is absorbed, and the liquor
becomes _vinegar_, hence called the _acetous fermentation_. The _putrid
fermentation_ generally takes place in animal bodies very soon after
death, so that neither of the other processes, certainly not the vinous,
the acetous rarely, becomes a condition of animal matter.

The chief product of the vinous fermentation is an intoxicating,
colourless, volatile, and highly inflammable liquor called _alcohol_; in
common language _rectified spirits of wine_. It may be obtained by
distillation from wine, cyder, perry, brandy, &c. &c. and from whatever
liquor it be obtained, when freed from extraneous matter, it is in every
case the same. Alcohol consists of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Its
usual specific gravity is 825, water being 1000.

After vegetables have passed through these fermenting processes, the
decomposition continuing, unless checked by extraneous means, the
remainder of their constituents become separated, many of them being
volatilized in the form of gas, and nothing remains but a black or brown
residuum called mould, consisting of carbon, some salts, a little oil,
and extractive matter.

In the decomposition of animal substances, we perceive the union of
hydrogen and nitrogen forming _ammonia_; the combination of carbon with
oxygen produces carbonic acid; and nitric acid arises from the union
oxygen and nitrogen. A quantity of hydrogen is also extricated in the
form of gas, carrying off with it sulphur and phosphorus, which produce
together the disagreeable smell arising from animal putrefaction. Nothing
now remains but a portion of carbon mixed with phosphate of soda and
phosphate of lime.

Hence we see that, by the processes of fermentation, complex bodies are
converted into more simple substances, and that nature restores, in the
new combinations, the principles which she had borrowed from the
atmosphere for the formation of both animals and vegetables; and that she
accomplishes a perpetual circle of ever-changing being, at once
demonstrating the fecundity of her resources, and the grandeur and
simplicity of her operations.


_On substantive and adjective colours, and the mordants, &c. used in
dyeing; and on the leading facts of chemical science as connected with
this art._

The substances commonly dyed are either _animal_, as _wool_, _silk_,
_hair_, _leather_, and skins of all kinds; or _vegetable_, as _cotton_,
_flax_, _hemp_, _&c._ Great differences exist between the affinities for
colouring matter possessed by these substances, so that a process which
perfectly succeeds in dyeing wool may fail when applied to cotton. Wool
has generally the strongest affinity for colour; silk and other animal
substances come next; cotton next, and hemp and flax last.

Of the numerous known dyes, few can be applied to either animal or
vegetable fibre without some preparation beyond that of cleansing the
stuff, and immersing it in the dyeing liquor. When colours can be fixed
on cloth without any previous preparation, they are called _substantive_
colours, such is _indigo_; when they cannot be so fixed, but require to
be saturated with some preparation, such as acetate of alumina, or a
metallic oxide, &c. they are called _adjective_ colours; of this kind are
madder, cochineal, &c. The substances with which cloths are impregnated,
previously to being dyed, are called _mordants_, because they are
supposed to bite or lay hold of the colour which is applied.

The chief difference between vegetable and animal substances is, that
animal (as for instance wool) contains a small portion of carbon, and a
large quantity of hydrogen and nitrogen; while vegetables contain a very
large proportion of carbon, less hydrogen, and, in general, no nitrogen.

It is the interest of every dyer to acquire as much information as
possible concerning the nature of alum, iron, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen,
the alkalies, acids, &c. in order to prevent or obviate the consequences
of an incorrect application of these agents in the various departments of
his art, and also to apply them with the greatest success. We shall,
therefore, enter a little into the nature and combinations of some of
these bodies, and state some of the leading facts with which the modern
discoveries in chemistry have made us acquainted.

_Carbon_, or charcoal, is considered an elementary body, because, as yet,
no means have been found adequate to decompose it; it forms the skeleton
of vegetables or their woody fibre.

We must now direct the attention of the reader to _oxygen gas_, the
discovery of which was made by Dr. Priestley in the year 1774, and by him
called _dephlogisticated air_; the most important discovery that was,
perhaps, ever made in chemistry. When a metal is exposed to atmospheric
air, at almost every temperature, it loses its metallic lustre, and
acquires the form and appearance of an earthy substance. If this change
be produced in a given quantity of air, the _oxidation_ can only be
carried on to a certain degree; and on examining the air which remains,
we shall find that it has lost the whole of its oxygen, and that nothing
remains but nitrogen gas. What was formerly called the _calcination_ of
metals is nothing but the process of their union with oxygen, which is
now therefore properly called their _oxidation_.

If charcoal be mixed with the metallic oxide, and a suitable heat be
applied to the mixture, it will unite with the oxygen and form carbonic
acid, which will fly off in the form of gas, while the metal will assume
its metallic form. From this we learn that _oxygen_ is a part of
atmospheric air, and that _nitrogen_ constitutes another portion of the
same air. _Ammonia_ is a combination of nitrogen and hydrogen.
_Combustion_, or the burning of any combustible body, cannot take place,
at least under ordinary circumstances, without the presence of oxygen.
_Nitrogen gas_, (called by its discoverers _azotic gas_), constitutes
about three fourths of atmospheric air; the other fourth consists of
oxygen, besides a small fraction of carbonic acid gas. Oxygen decomposes
and destroys all fugitive colours. Oxygen is, besides, the basis of
almost all the acids, and hence is one of the most universal agents in
nature.

_Hydrogen_, formerly called _inflammable air_, was discovered by Mr.
Cavendish in 1767; it is called hydrogen, because it is one of the
component parts of water; or, more properly, it is the base of water. It
is obtained in the most pure state from the decomposition of water by
means of metals, thus: pass one hundred parts of water through a red hot
iron tube, a gun barrel for instance, fifteen parts of hydrogen gas will
be produced, while the inside of the tube will be found converted into an
oxide, and to have gained eighty five parts in weight.

Again, when eighty five parts of oxygen gas are burned with fifteen of
hydrogen gas, both gases vanish, and one hundred parts of water are the
result. Hydrogen gas, when in a pure state, is about fifteen times
lighter than atmospheric air; hence its use for inflating balloons.
Hydrogen, if inhaled, destroys animal life; combined with _nitrogen_, it
forms ammonia, or the _volatile alkali_, as we have before stated.

We have mentioned the _fixed alkalies_ in a preceding section. We may add
here, that by the discoveries of Sir Humphry Davy, in the year 1807, the
base of caustic, or pure _potash_, is now known to consist of a light,
white metallic substance, to which the name of _potassium_ has been
given; it is of the consistence of soft wax; at a freezing temperature it
is hard, brittle, and solid; when thrown upon water it instantly takes
fire, hydrogen gas escapes, and an _oxide of potassium_, or caustic
pot-ash, is produced. The potash and pearl-ash of the shops we must not
forget, are combinations of _carbonic acid_ and pot-ash, hence they
effervesce with all the acids; but caustic pot-ash, containing no
carbonic acid, combines with any of the acids without effervescence.

The SODA, as obtained from barilla, is a carbonate of soda; pure soda, or
caustic soda, was, till the discoveries of Sir Humphry Davy, supposed to
be, as well as potash, a simple substance. It is now, however, known to
consist of a metallic substance of the colour of lead, but, nevertheless,
lighter than water; upon which, when thrown, it produces, like potassium,
violent action, yet does not, in general, like potassium, inflame. It is
called _sodium_; pure soda consists therefore of sodium and oxygen, hence
it is an _oxide of sodium_. These discoveries of the composition of the
fixed alkalies are of infinite importance in the arts. The alkalies
contain some very striking properties:

_Their taste is acrid, burning and urinous. They generally change the
blue colours of vegetable infusions green. When mixed with silex or
flint, by exposure to great heat they form glass, and they render oils
miscible with water, and hence combine with them forming soaps. They
effervesce_ (_when combined with carbonic acid_,) with many other acids,
and form neutral salts with all the acids. The _volatile alkali_ or
_ammonia_, on exposure to air, flies entirely away. Pot-ash, either in
its caustic state, or in that of a carbonate, absorbs moisture from the
air, and liquifies. While soda, on the contrary, and many of its
combinations, effloresce in the air; they, nevertheless, effervesce, and
combine with the acids in a similar way to pot-ash.

We have mentioned how pot-ash is obtained in a preceding section. Soda is
commonly procured from the ashes of marine plants; the _barilla_ of
commerce is obtained, it is said, in Spain, chiefly from many species of
the _salsola_, or salt-wort. Barilla is an impure subcarbonate of soda,
it is used largely in the manufacture of soap.

We now proceed to notice the nature of _acids_.

_They excite a particular sensation on the palate, which we call sour.
They change the blue colour of vegetables red._ All of them, except the
carbonic acid, effervesce with the _volatile_ as well as the _fixed
alkalies when in the state of carbonates, as they are most commonly found
in commerce_. Oxygen is the principle of almost all acids; their
difference depends upon the base combined with the oxygen: thus oxygen
combined with carbon or pure charcoal, forms _carbonic acid_; with
nitrogen the _nitric acid_; with sulphur the _sulphuric acid_, _&c._ _&c._

_Gas_ is a term implying the same as _air_; but as the term air, when
used, is liable to be misunderstood for the air of the atmosphere, which
is, as we have seen, a compound body, the term gas is more appropriately
applied to all elastic fluids of a specific kind. Thus we say _carbonic
acid gas_, _oxygenous gas_. The difference between carbonic acid and
carbonic acid gas, and oxygen and oxygenous gas, consists in the latter
being combined with _heat_ only, and in the state of air, while in the
former they are fixed in some body, as in carbonate of pot-ash and oxide
of lead, in both which cases the carbonic acid exists in a fixed state,
or combined with the pot-ash, and the oxygen is in a fixed state, or
combined with the lead.

We may now treat of _carbonic acid gas_, which is thus produced, as well
as in many other ways: when charcoal is burned in oxygen gas, exactly
sufficient for its combustion, both the charcoal and oxygen disappear,
and an elastic fluid is found in the vessel, which is equal in weight to
both. This air or gas is carbonic acid gas; it combines with lime, the
alkalies, and pure or burnt magnesia: it constitutes a considerable
portion of the weight of chalk, limestone and marble, as is readily seen
by comparing these bodies before and after their conversion into
quicklime. It is frequently combined with hydrogen. The gas with which
the streets are now lighted is chiefly carburetted hydrogen.

Carbonic acid gas has the following properties. It extinguishes flame,
and, like nitrogen and hydrogen, kills animals immersed in it. It is
heavier than common air, and may therefore be poured out of one vessel
into another like water. Cider, wine, beer and other fermented liquors
owe their briskness to the carbonic acid which they contain; soda-water
also owes its briskness entirely to the quantity of carbonic acid gas
which it contains, a small quantity of heat being sufficient to give the
acid the gaseous state.

_Sulphur_ has been mentioned before; it is well known to be a very
combustible substance; it is found in great quantities throughout nature;
the sulphur of commerce comes either from Italy or Sicily; or from the
isle of Anglesea, where it is obtained from the smelting of sulphuret of
copper; the best, however, comes from Sicily. It is, sometimes, found
pure; but often combined with some of the metals, forming _sulphurets_.
It is also frequently obtained by the decomposition of animal and
vegetable substances; it is sometimes found combined with hydrogen (hence
called sulphuretted hydrogen), in the human stomach, more frequently in
the intestines. Sulphur combined with a small dose of oxygen, forms a
volatile suffocating acid, called the _sulphureous acid_; with a large
dose it forms _sulphuric acid_, or oil of vitriol.

For the _nitric_ and _muriatic acids_, see a preceding section. We may,
however, mention here, that nitric acid has the peculiar property of
staining the _scarf skin_ of the human body a dull yellow, of such
permanence, that it can scarcely, by any means, be destroyed, it usually
remaining till the skin wears or peels off.

The principal vegetable acids are the _tartaric_ and the _acetic_. The
tartaric acid exists in superabundance in tartar, and particularly in
cream of tartar, which is nothing more than a purified tartar. See
_argol_ in a preceding section.

The _acetic acid_ constitutes the vinegar both common and distilled; it
is found in a very concentrated state in the shops, under the name of
_aromatic vinegar_. It is also now obtained in large quantities, and of
great strength from _wood_ by distillation, or burning, in vessels,
adapted for the purpose, hence called the _pyrolignous_ acid, but
essentially the acetic acid. This last is now used by Calico-Printers to
make acetate of iron. See a preceding section.

_Alumina_, or earth of alumina, sometimes called _argil_, is soft to the
touch, adheres to the tongue, and hardens in the fire, contracting its
dimensions: it constitutes the greatest part of clays. With sulphuric
acid and pot-ash, it forms the common alum of the shops. Alum dissolves
in about sixteen times its weight of cold water. For _acetate of alum_
see _alum_ in a preceding section.

Agriculturists and agricultural chemists know that _alumina_ constitutes
three eighths or more of a fruitful soil; some vegetables, likewise,
contain this earth in their composition. _Iron_ is also a component part
of many soils, particularly those in which a _red_ colour is predominant;
hence it is, probably, a component part of all drugs used for browns,
fawns, and blacks. It will be seen what affinity cotton has for _iron_ in
the dye of _buff_[4] upon cotton; and it seems reasonable to conclude
that this metal not only produces the black, grey, and brown hues, but,
with lime, forms a component part of the drugs themselves which give the
brown dyes. It may be here also mentioned, that the _red_ colour of the
blood has been by many chemists supposed to arise from the iron which it
contains; MR. BRANDE, however, does not, from his own experiments,
conclude this to be the fact. The blood of animals is, nevertheless,
occasionally used for dyeing, as will be seen under _Adrianople red_. See
KIRWAN _on Manures_, _&c._ and DAVY'S _Agricultural Chemistry_.

From the acids or oxygen combined with alkalies, earths, or metals,
almost innumerable mordants, as we have seen, are formed; and upon the
correct and proper application of these to the cloth or other matters to
be dyed, depends the goodness and permanence of the colours. The dyer
cannot, therefore, be too scrupulously attentive to this portion of his
art.

In dyeing the student ought also to remember, that the material to be
dyed combines intimately, in numerous instances, with alumina or other
mordants; in the case of alumina it, in some instances, takes up from one
twelfth to one fourth of its weight of alum, leaving the alum bath nearly
tasteless. So also will rich extract of American bark, or even weld, when
the proportion of weld is in weight more than two to one of the wool,
form a triple compound with the cloth and alum, of permanent duration.

All these preliminaries the author considers of the first importance to
be understood, and he has, therefore, mentioned them again and again. For
so doing he is sure that he shall be excused in the dye-house, although
not perhaps by the critics, whose candour he nevertheless respectfully
solicits.

We now proceed to the _application of mordants_. In regard to muslins and
calicoes, the alum is to be mixed with gum and carried to the piece, as
will be described below in the _Calico-Printers' mordant_, and then
immersed in the dye-bath: it thus receives the base or mordant. If the
base be alum and the dye-bath madder, then, where the block strikes the
pattern with the alumine base, the colour will come out _red_; the other
parts will clean and bleach white. If alum and iron form the base, the
colour will be purple; if iron alone be applied, and galls, sumach,
logwood, &c. are the component parts of the dye-bath, then it will be
_black_.


_The Calico-Printers' mordant or base of alum for yellow and red goods,
either for printing or dyeing; and on compound colours._

Take one gallon of soft and pure water, of a heat of 150°, three pounds
of common alum, one pound and a half of sugar (acetate) of lead; mix
these together, and let them stand for two or three days, so that they
may incorporate, often stirring them during that interval; then add two
ounces of pearl-ash, and the same quantity of clean powdered chalk or
whiting. After a time the clear liquor, now become _an acetate of alum_,
must be drawn off. When used, it is thickened either with paste, flour,
or gum arabic, or senegal; four pounds of either of the gums to each
gallon of liquor[5]. A block or a press similar to a copper-plate press
for paper, but much larger, and having the copper plates in proportion,
is employed to spread the acetate of alum from a utensil called a sieve,
which is, however, not porous, while a boy or girl called a _Teerer_,
works it smooth; when smooth on the sieve, the printer applies his block,
and charges it with the acetate of alum; the block thus charged, is
correctly put on the cotton cloth, which is laid upon a blanket spread
upon a table; it is then struck with a mallet once or twice, by which, or
by the pressure of the rolling-press, if copper-plate, the acetate of
alum is driven into the pores of the cloth. The cloth thus prepared, is
hung up in a hot stove, and dried by a high degree of heat. The goods are
now ready, if for _red_, for the _madder_; and if for _yellow_, for the
_weld_ copper. Sometimes, however, lately, the colour is previously
prepared, and applied at once in more instances than are prudent. To the
above mordant, _M'Kernan_ adds three ounces of _sulphate of copper_,
omitting the potash; and he adds, "When the colour is wanting on the
scarlet cast, omit the sulphate of copper."

Wool readily takes the alum at a boiling heat; _common alum_ is in many
instances proper for wool; and in others, where it might be improper, it
is corrected by the use of argol or cream of tartar.

_Yellow_ and _red_ produce _orange_; _red_ and _blue_, _purple_; but upon
_cotton_, a scarlet, purple, or crimson cannot be produced in any way
equal to those colours in wool or silk. _Yellow_ and _blue_ form the
_green_.


_On Bleaching Linen, Cotton, &c._

We cannot enter with much minuteness into this part of the subject, more
especially as the _art of bleaching_ is usually a separate one from that
of _dyeing_. Yet as in fact the arts of _dyeing_ and of _bleaching_
depend in a great degree on the same principles, some notice of
bleaching, in a treatise on dyeing, seems absolutely necessary.

Linen, cotton, and other cloths, were for ages deprived of their colour,
in other words, bleached, rendered white, by a tedious process. Thus, the
article to be bleached being boiled in a solution of pot-ash, was washed,
and then spread on the grass in a field, watered occasionally, and, thus
exposed to the atmosphere for two or three months, became white. This
method is, however, in part, if not now entirely, dispensed with. M.
Berthollet, an ingenious French chemist, to whose valuable work on dyeing
we have before alluded, employed what was then called _oxygenated
muriatic acid_, now _chlorine_, to perform in a few days what before took
months to accomplish. His method was as follows. To six pints of powdered
oxide of manganese he added sixteen of muriate of soda, (common salt) and
twelve of concentrated sulphuric acid diluted with an equal quantity of
water. These were placed in a leaden retort and distilled: the product
was _oxygenated muriatic acid_, or _chlorine_, which being conducted to a
vessel containing the material to be dyed, produced the same effects as
the former tedious process, and bleached as much, in two or three days,
as was before done in two or three months. This process has been since
much further improved by the use of a combination of chlorine with lime,
called _chloride_, or _oxymuriate of lime_. This article is at present
used in almost all the bleaching grounds in the United Kingdom. It
appears, therefore, that upon the use of the agent, _chlorine_, does the
expedition and whiteness of modern bleaching principally depend. Yet it
ought, nevertheless, to be stated, that although, in the hands of
scientific and judicious persons, chlorine is one of the most powerful
agents in bleaching that ever was discovered, still, in the hands of
bungling and avaricious persons, it may contribute greatly to the
destruction of the cloth; and therefore, even now, a demand is
occasionally heard for the old method of bleaching.

These processes constitute the art of the bleacher; the dyer has seldom
any thing to do with them except in piece-goods or rough cambric, which
he has sometimes to dye black as they come from the bleacher's in a state
which they call _once boucked_; and sometimes he has them just as they
come from the weaver; in which case, if for black, they need not be
bleached white, but should be boiled in pot-ash, to take out the grease,
&c.


_On the theory relative to fast and fugitive colours._

Many attempts have been made by chemical philosophers to account for the
permanence or want of permanence of various colours, when imparted to
cloths and other bodies as a dye. Among these, HELLOT, D'APLIGNY, and
others of the old, and BERTHOLLET, BANCROFT, HENRY, and others of the
modern school, may be mentioned.

The power of resisting vegetable acids, alkalies, and soap, and, above
all, the action of air and light, constitutes the durability of a colour.
But this property has a very unequal standard, according to the nature of
the colour and the species of the stuff.

There is no obscurity in the action of water, alkalies, acids, and soap:
for a solution is effected by means of these agents, or a small portion
of acid or alkali unites to the combination, which forms the colour. But
this is not the case with the action of light and air. Till lately,
however, it was not known in what this action consisted.

Of the two principles which compose atmospheric air, it is only the
_oxygen_ gas which acts on the colouring particles. It combines with
them, and thus impairs their colour or makes them fade. But its action is
soon chiefly exerted on the hydrogen which enters into their composition,
and it thereby forms water. This effect may be compared to a feeble
combustion. Hence the carbon, which enters into the composition of the
colouring particles, becomes predominant, and the colour usually passes
to yellow, dun, or brown, or other appearances.

Light promotes this decomposition of the colouring particles, which
frequently takes place only with its concurrence, and thus it contributes
to the destruction of the colour. Heat also favours the same result, but
less efficaciously so, unless it have a certain intensity.

It is concluded, therefore, that colours are more or less fixed in the
air, according to the greater or less tendency which the colouring
particles have to undergo this change[6]. Hence the utility of _mordants_
in rendering _fugitive_ colours _fast_.


_To prove the colours of Dyed Stuffs, &c._

The natural proofs of a dye's being effectual, are exposure to the air,
to the sun, or to rain. If the colour be not changed by such exposure
after twelve or fourteen days, it may be considered as fixed. These
proofs are not, however, adapted to every colour: for some resist the
action of air, light, and rain, yet are nevertheless injured by certain
acids. There are also colours which do not resist the natural proofs and
yet remain unchanged by acids.

Colours may be arranged in this respect in three classes: the first class
is tried with _alum_, the second with _soap_, the third with _tartar_.
For the proof with _alum_, half an ounce of this salt must be dissolved
in a pint of water in an earthen pipkin, and into this liquor is to be
put half a quarter of an ounce of the dyed thread or stuff, the whole
being boiled about five minutes; it is then to be washed clean with
water. Thus are tried _crimson_, _scarlet_, _flesh-colour_, _violet_,
_ponceau_, _peach-blossom_, different shades of _blue_, and other colours
bordering on these.

The next proof consists in boiling a quarter of an ounce of _soap_ in a
pint of water, with half a quarter of an ounce of the dyed stuff or
thread for five minutes. With this proof all sorts of _yellow_, _green_,
_madder-red_, _cinnamon_, and similar colours are to be tried.

The proof with _tartar_ consists in boiling one ounce of that salt,
previously powdered very fine, with a quarter of an ounce of dyed thread
or stuff, in a pint of water for five minutes. This proof is used for all
colours bordering upon _fallow_, or _hair-brown_.—_Journal of Science_,
vol. xxii. 219.

But notwithstanding these general rules may be given for _dye-tests_, yet
so many are the niceties in this art, that, after all, nothing but long
practice combined with scientific knowledge, will enable the dyer to
become in this respect, a complete and successful artist.


_On dye-houses and the water proper for dyeing._

The _dye-house_ should be as spacious as possible, according to the
quantity of work intended to be done in it; it should be also as near as
possible to a clear running stream. The floor should be a mixture of lime
and cement, and sufficiently inclining, so that water, the old contents
of the vats, &c. &c. may run off freely when thrown down.

A dyer cannot be too particular in regard to the _water_ which he uses.
Some pump, well, and other spring waters, contain _iron_; this is
injurious to many colours, while for black, brown, slates, and grey, it
is very advantageous. It has been supposed that some dyers succeed in
dyeing even the very same colour in a superior manner, in consequence of
the peculiar purity or other properties of the water which they use.

To discover whether water contains iron or not, a little tincture of
galls or prussiate of potash must be dropped into it; if a purple or blue
tinge be produced in the water, we may be assured that it does contain
iron.

For dyeing delicate colours, the water, which ought to be chosen for such
purpose the purest and best, should be heated with bran in a bag, when
much of the contents of the water inimical to dyeing will rise to the top
in the form of a scum, and should be taken off just before the water
boils. Instead of bran, a little alum will answer the same purpose when
it is not inimical to the colour intended to be dyed.

The boiling point of water is at the degree of 212° of _Fahrenheit's
thermometer_; the freezing point is at 32° of the same instrument; blood
heat is at 98°.


_Miscellaneous observations._

The limits and price of this manual preclude the possibility of our
giving plates to explain some of the machinery and utensils which are now
employed in dyeing. To inform a _dyer_ what kind of coppers, casks, and
vats are necessary, would seem to be superfluous; and the pupil may soon
acquire such knowledge in the dye-house. Should a dyer find it his
interest to undertake a branch of his art of which he has not any
previous knowledge, he had better engage a man who understands it; if,
however, he thinks himself competent to manage it, but is unacquainted
with the best modern utensils appropriated to that particular branch, he
had better get a dyer's labourer who has been used to it; a man of
sufficient intelligence may be found with due encouragement to perform
this part. It may just be added, that _Ure's Berthollet_ and Mr.
_M'Kernan's_ work, both contain numerous explanatory _plates_ of the
utensils and machinery which are described and recommended in those works.

All solutions and decoctions of _Brazil wood_, _logwood_, _fustic_, _&c_.
should always be prepared in the same quantity and proportion, and one
measure be invariably set apart for each. This observation is meant more
particularly to apply to drugs in stock, always kept in a state of
preparation ready for any process or work which may occur. The drugs just
named may be kept in a prepared state; but _weld boiled_ will not keep,
nor will some others which are mentioned in the body of the work.

_Weld_, as it will not keep, should be used thus: a copper in proportion
to the size of the work should always be used; and as weld will bear
boiling and re-boiling, it can be boiled by the half bundle or more
according as it may be wanted, whether you work little or much. If you
are exact and near in your estimate, practice will soon render you
perfect in any branch. It should be observed too, that to _dye to
pattern_ cannot be the result of a receipt, without a great latitude be
left for the judgment.

The most difficult part of dyeing is that of _light drabs_, _stone
drabs_, _&c_.

Nothing but _practice_ will qualify you for this and all pattern dyeing:
the way, and the only good way to obtain practice, is to work with all
possible regularity. In the dyeing of fancy cloths in the clothing
districts of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, and other fine cloth
manufactories, the _manufacturers_ who dye their own cloths, as well as
_dyers_ of the greatest eminence, always number, measure, weigh, and time
all the component parts of their various processes of dyeing. Such in
fact ought to be the universal practice; and then a person of ordinary
abilities may soon be able to perfect his processes and obtain the best
results.

Hence, however, it is very necessary that the dyer should have a
competent knowledge of chemistry and drugs, that he may be able to judge
of the goodness of the articles which he uses, and of the numerous and
extraordinary combinations into which they enter. To _chemistry_, in
particular, every able and scientific dyer must be largely indebted; for
this reason it is that we have endeavoured, in this _introductory
chapter_, to sketch some of the most important facts in this universal
and interesting science.

In possession of these qualifications, and working upon the above plan,
the dyer can never be far from the desired result in all his processes.
His deviations, if any, will be few, as from his knowledge, he will soon
perceive the first approach of any incorrectness, and be able to adjust
it generally without much inconvenience.

The _chemical terms_ now introduced into treatises on dyeing are chiefly
taken from the Greek language, and are used in such a manner as to
convey, by their etymology, an idea of the nature of the substances to
which they are applied. _Oxygen_ implies the producer of acid:
_hydrogen_, the producer of _water_; _nitrogen_, the producer of _nitre_,
&c. The term _gas_ has been explained above. _Caloric_ is a term used by
chemists for heat; but caloric is used in a more extensive signification
than the term heat, thus: although a gas might possess no sensible heat,
yet being in a gaseous state, it is assumed to contain a certain portion
of caloric which keeps it in its gaseous state; the same observation will
apply to liquids whether aqueous, oleous, or metallic.

_All the measures mentioned in this work unless otherwise described, are
those usually called in this country_ WINE MEASURE, _and not those which
have been introduced by a late act of parliament_, _called_ IMPERIAL
MEASURES.

[2] Cochineal was at first supposed to be a _grain_, which name it still
retains by way of eminence among dyers. URE.

[3] For the cultivation of Woad in England, see Parish's paper in vol.
xii. of the Bath Society's Report, or Tilloch's Mag. vol. xxxviii.

[4] What are called _iron moulds_ in cotton, linen, &c. are, it is well
known, nothing but the marks of a _buff_ colour, usually left by ink and
other matters which contain iron: acids, of course, dissolve, and
discharge these buff colours; the _oxalic acid_ does so without
decomposing the cloth.

[5] "_Acetate of Alumina_ is now most frequently made for the
Calico-Printers by dissolving alum in a solution of crude acetate of
lime, (pyrolignite); a gallon of the acetate, of specific gravity, 1.050
or 1.060, being used with two pounds and three-quarters of alum. A
sulphate of lime is formed, which precipitates, while an acetate of
alumina mixed with some alum floats above. The acetate of alumina
employed as a mordant for chintz, is still commonly made by the mutual
decomposition of alum and acetate of lead."—_Ure's Berthollet_, vol. ii.
p. 331.

[6] Berthollet.




CHAPTER II.

ON DYEING COTTON.

_To dye cotton a Saxon or chemic blue—Sulphate of indigo—Saxon or
chemic green—To set a cold indigo vat—Another indigo vat—To dye cotton
a fast green with the cold indigo vat and weld—Another cold blue vat for
linen and cotton—Solution of indigo for penciling printed muslin,
&c.—To dye cotton a fast buff—To dye cotton pink._


We refer the reader to the preceding chapter for many observations
relative to _cotton_, with which, in order to understand correctly the
best method of dyeing this material, it is necessary that he should
become acquainted: indeed, the whole of that chapter ought to be well
studied by every one desirous of becoming an expert dyer.


_To dye cotton of a Saxon or chemic blue._

This is performed with the _sulphate of indigo_ thus:—put into a brown
stone glazed earthen pot four pounds of good sulphuric acid, add to it
twelve ounces of good indigo finely powdered, stirring the mixture very
quickly and frequently: break the lumps, if it should get lumpy before it
is thoroughly mixed, with a glass rod, or with a stick, the bark of which
has been taken off: if for wool or silk, the solution will be fit for use
in forty-eight hours, but if for cotton it will not be fit for use till
the acid is neutralized by an _alkali_. Some persons, however, use
_whiting_, but this precipitates and wastes the indigo; others use
magnesia, but this is expensive: some, again, use pure or caustic potash
prepared thus—take American pot or pearl-ash about seven pounds, put
some of it into a brown stone glazed jar, or rather an open pan; upon the
ashes put some quicklime recently burnt, and then alternately ashes and
lime, slacking the lime with water as it is put on the ashes; let the
whole stand together for about two hours: provide now another brown stone
earthen vessel with a hole in the bottom, of larger dimensions than the
other, put into this a piece of coarse linen to prevent the lime, the
impurities, or any foreign body from running through the hole, then upon
the bottom put some of the previously mixed lime and ashes, well
incorporated, and placed gently upon the linen so as to be sure of its
keeping its place and letting the liquor pass through clear. As the
mixture is put in add some water occasionally, so as to keep it just
covered, and leave room at the top for the swelling of the materials, as
the lime especially will increase in bulk. Water must fill the whole, and
cover the lime, &c. which will be known by the bubbles ceasing to rise.
When it has stood twelve or fourteen hours, water being occasionally
added as it is absorbed, some may be drawn out.

To determine whether the carbonic acid has entirely quitted the potash,
(and for which purpose the quicklime, having a greater affinity with the
carbonic acid than potash has, is specifically applied,) take some of the
fluid in a wine glass and drop a drop of sulphuric acid into it; if the
carbonic acid has entirely combined with the lime, the sulphuric acid
will enter the fluid in the glass quietly, and without any other
appearance than so much water; if you still doubt add more drops of the
sulphuric acid successively. If the carbonic acid has not entirely left
the potash when the sulphuric acid is dropped into the liquor, an
effervescence or fermentation will be seen in it. Whenever this is the
case the liquor must be returned to the mixture for a longer time, and,
if necessary, more lime be added.

When the liquor or ley is fit for use, all of it is to be drawn off, and
more water may be added and remain on the ingredients till it is wanted.
It is best to keep it close from the air, because as the air contains a
certain portion of carbonic acid, the liquor would in time absorb it, and
the ley, instead of containing caustic potash, would become a solution of
carbonate of potash, and consequently not answer the end designed.

To know when the _alkali_ of the mixture is exhausted, take a piece of
paper stained with the juice of the blue flowers of violets, or the
blossom of the mallow, which is thus prepared—pound the blossoms in a
glass mortar with a glass pestle, and squeeze the juice into a tea-cup,
then, with a small hair pencil, cover a sheet of white paper with the
juice, and dry it for use. All acids will turn it _red_, and all alkalies
will turn it _green_; and, therefore, as long as any of the alkali
remains in the liquor, the paper thus prepared will, when immersed in it,
be stained green.

The comparative strength of such solutions may also be ascertained thus:
take a wine-glass full of the liquor, drop into it a few drops of
sulphuric acid, stirring it with a glass rod or clean bit of
tobacco-pipe, and then apply a bit of test paper; if it appear green more
acid must be added and stirred again; apply the test paper a second time,
if it be still stained green, a few drops more of the acid must be added,
and thus continue till the colour of the paper is neither altered to
green nor red: the liquor will then be neither acid nor alkaline, but
contain a neutral salt consisting of a combination of the acid and the
alkali. By adding, however, a few more drops of the acid, this last will
be found predominant, and the test paper, being immersed in the liquor,
will be stained red.

By treating different leys in this manner, and counting the number of
drops necessary to neutralize each, the strongest ley will always be
found that which requires the greatest quantity of acid for the purpose.

Alkaline leys are also to be judged of by their weight compared with that
of water; a wine pint of water usually weighs about sixteen ounces
avoirdupoise; all alkaline leys are _heavier than water_, and the heavier
they are the more alkali they necessarily contain. A wine pint of some of
them will weigh more than seventeen ounces.

To return to the dyeing of cotton a chemic blue: (to which a knowledge of
these chemical processes, as well as of other processes in our work, is
essentially necessary,) take some of the blue liquid prepared with indigo
and sulphuric acid, as before directed, and put it into a vessel large
enough to hold two or three times as much as is intended to be put in, in
order that there may be room to stir it; add some of the potash, or
alkaline liquor, by degrees till, after several trials, the mixture
ceases to be sour; or, if you do not like to taste it, take a small slip
of cotton or muslin and dip it in, after having wetted it out in warm
water. If the acid be neutralized the cotton will be sound, if not it
will be tender _when dried_: if the acid predominates much the cotton
will be as rotten as tinder; when the cotton is perfectly strong and
sound after being dried, the liquid is in a proper state to dye both
cotton and muslin.

The goods to be dyed must first be wetted out and wrung, then work them
in the flat tub with water, with a little of this blue added, and well
stirred in proportion to the shade wanted. From half a pint to a pint of
the liquid blue is sufficient for two pieces of twenty-four or
twenty-eight yards each, if not of a very full pattern.

Blue, when dyed, should be dried in a cool stove, and if book-muslins,
framed; furniture should be stiffened, glazed, or calendered.

The preceding are essentially the same directions for preparing and
dyeing with the _chemic blue_ which were given in the first edition of
this work, and which we see no reason to alter. As, however, for _silk_
in particular, another method has been given in the late work of Mr.
M'KERNAN, we give his processes below.


_Sulphate of Indigo._

"Take one pound of the best flora indigo in very fine powder, put this
into a stone-ware or lead vessel, then add gradually three pounds of the
best sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1.800; mix well and stir often, and
in twenty-four hours the indigo will be dissolved. Adding three ounces of
sulphur to the acid, and heating it to 180°; then, when cooled to 100°,
pouring the acid off the sediment, and then adding to it the indigo, is
considered the best way of opening or dissolving the indigo. When the
indigo and acid have been mixed twenty-four hours, add three pints of
boiling water; stir often; when cold it will be fit for use."


_To neutralize the sulphate of indigo._

"Take six pounds of alum and dissolve it in two gallons of water at 120°,
when dissolved add, by degrees, five pounds of pearl-ashes until the acid
of the alum is neutralized and the alumine formed, then put the whole on
a piece of calico that has been hooked in a square frame, or tied over a
vessel; when the liquor has run off then add one gallon of boiling water
on the alumine and stir it up well. When the water has gone through the
calico; the alumine is fit for use. Then add a part of this alumine to
some of the sulphate of indigo until the acid is neutralized."


_Saxon or chemic_ GREEN.

The same blue vat will do for _green_; but it is best to make another by
putting only eight ounces of indigo instead of twelve to four pounds of
sulphuric acid. If the preparation has been made two or three months it
is the better, having been often stirred before it was neutralized with
the alkali.

Prepare a strong decoction[7] of old fustic, which should always be ready
at hand as a store, keeping plenty according to the work to be done,
including cotton, silk, and worsted goods.

Mix some of the chemic blue with the decoction of fustic in the following
manner: put into a tub six pails of soft clear water, to which add a pint
of the neutralized blue; and six pails of the decoction of fustic; stir
all well together. Some dyers add a little weak alum liquor till it just
tastes before they put in the blue; it should be but little, otherwise it
will precipitate the fustic. This mixture should stand two hours to
settle.

The muslin or calico, say two pieces of twenty-four yards each, should,
with the usual precautions, be passed through a strong decoction of old
fustic or turmeric as hot as the hand will bear. They are then to be
taken out and submitted to a quantity of the green mixture above,
described, in proportion to the fulness of the green required. When
finished, whether for the calenderer or glazer, they should be dried in a
moderately warm stove.

These two colours are very fugitive, especially upon _cotton goods_; but
sometimes the customer will not go to the price of the fast green or
blue, hereafter to be described.


_To set a cold indigo vat for cotton, &c._

Put three pounds of slacked lime, sifted, into six quarts or more of
boiling water; stir the mixture well for some time, and after it has
settled, draw off the clear liquid, to which add three pounds of sulphate
of iron, stirring it well till all is dissolved; let it settle till the
next day; have ready a deal cask, because one made of oak would blacken
and otherwise injure the dye, in consequence of the affinity between the
tannin, &c. of the oak and the sulphuric acid. Put into the cask
seventy-five gallons of water, to which add the mixture of lime and
sulphate of iron; take now three pounds of indigo, well ground and ready
at hand, dissolved in three pints of strong solution of potash, such as
was directed to be prepared for neutralizing the chemic blue. Put this
solution of indigo and potash into the tub with the water, lime, &c.
after it is well stirred, and left to settle, it produces a deal of
froth; but the liquor takes a fine green colour, which turns to blue when
exposed to the air.

_Soda_ may be used instead of potash, if treated the same way. Soda, it
may be observed, forms the usual ley of the soap manufacturer; and
answers for _soap_ much better than potash, because its combinations do
not usually absorb moisture from the air: potash, and several of its
combinations, do so.


_Another indigo vat._

Take five hundred quarts of water; indigo seven or right pounds. The
boiler must be iron.

Boil the indigo with sixteen pounds of a liquor made with potash and
eight pounds of lime. After the lime and potash have been in contact, as
in all these instances they should be, from twelve to twenty-four hours,
to take away the carbonic acid from the potash, the clear liquor of this
mixture is what must be used. The indigo must be previously powdered, and
ground extremely fine in water before it is put into the alkaline liquor.
The mixture must now be added to the five hundred quarts of water, and
the whole boiled till the indigo rises to the surface like cream, and
till, in striking the bottom of the boiler with a stick, it is found to
contain no solid substance.

While the indigo is boiling, another eight pounds of lime must be slacked
in about twenty quarts of warm water; dissolve in this lime-water sixteen
pounds of sulphate of iron. The vat being half filled with water, the
solution of lime and sulphate of iron is to be put into it; the indigo
solution is now also to be added. The vat, being thus filled to within
about three or four inches of the edge, must be stirred two or three
times a day till it is fit for dyeing, which it will be in about
forty-eight hours, and sometimes sooner, according to the temperature of
the air, by which the completion of the process is more or less
accelerated.

When the strength of the vat is exhausted, it must be, of course,
replenished. If the liquor becomes black, it wants sulphate of iron; if
yellow, lime is required. When the indigo is far spent, more must be
added in the same manner as at first.

In this vat, as respects the blue dye, if it be for muslin, calico, &c.,
the form should be square, about two yards long, one yard to one and a
half wide, and from seven to eight feet deep; the pieces of cloth are to
be hooked into a frame.

Where much work is done, it will be necessary to have two or three such
vats, in order that they may be worked in succession: by stirring them
some hours previously to working, the weaker will do for the lighter
shades, the stronger for the fuller colours. If the vat is in proper
order, the goods always come out green, and turn blue in the air. This
should be ascertained by small patterns previously to working the whole.
When any goods are dyed in these vats, if not full enough at one dip,
they may be left a certain time, and then be dipped again, once or more,
as they appear to require it.

When they are blue enough, and fully aired, they must be taken from the
hooks, and well washed off in two or three fresh clean waters, or at a
wash wheel in a clear running stream. When perfectly clean, they are
ready for the calenderer or glazer.


_To dye cotton a_ FAST GREEN, _with the cold indigo vat and weld._

After dyeing muslin blue in the blue vat, weld must be boiled in the same
manner as for fast yellow. The quantity of weld to be used, must be
according to the fulness of the blue ground, and of what shade the green
is to be; a proportion of alum must also be used. The goods, after being
worked in the same manner by the selvage, must be washed off, and
stiffened, if for the glazer, but not if for dress, but be framed by the
muslin dresser.


_Another cold_ BLUE _vat for linen and cotton._

The indigo is to be powdered, and put into warm water with sulphate of
iron, in quantity twice the weight of the indigo, to which is also to be
added, the same weight of fresh-burnt lime. The water should be only
sufficient to mix it thick at first; keep it stirred; and, as it becomes
dissolved and green under the surface, increase the water, often stirring
and trying the mixture, by putting in a pattern between the stirrings, at
some hours distance, between each pattern, and increasing the water: in
twenty-four hours it will be fit for use.


_Solution of indigo for penciling printed muslin, &c._

To twenty-five gallons of water, add sixteen pounds of indigo, and thirty
pounds of carbonate of potash; when mixed, and placed over the fire, as
soon as the mixture begins to boil, add quicklime, by a little at a time,
to render the alkali caustic; then twelve pounds of red orpiment, and
boil till it will give a yellow colour to transparent glass.

This form is from _Haussman_. Were the author to make this solution of
indigo, he would first make the alkali caustic with lime, and then put
the clear liquor to the other materials.

Mr. _M'Kernan_ gives another form for _pencil blue_ with indigo: the
principal differences between which and the above, consist in adding
equal parts of brown sugar and _gum senegal_ to it, which, in regard to
the addition of the gum, is, we presume, a great improvement.

Dr. URE (_Notes to Berthollet_, vol. ii. page 437.) gives a similar form
from _Vitalis_, for _topical_ or _pencil blue_; but he adds, it was much
used formerly. Another blue, of less permanence but more brilliance, is
now preferred; it is made thus:—

Into an earthen pot four ounces of finely ground and sifted Prussian blue
are to be put. Over this must be slowly poured, stirring all the while,
sufficient muriatic acid to bring it to the consistence of syrup. The
mixture is to be stirred every hour for a day, and afterwards thickened
with from four to eight pots (of two _litres_ each; a litre _French_
contains about two wine pints;) of gum-water, according to the shade
wanted.


_To dye cotton a_ FAST BUFF.

Take a brown stone pan or pipkin, glazed. It must not be the common
glazed wares, because these are glazed with _lead_, and the acids will
dissolve the lead; if, therefore, such are used, the lead being
dissolved, will be mixed with the dyeing materials, and sometimes totally
spoil the dye. Stone-ware, if used with care, will bear the fire: such
ware is usually glazed with muriate of soda or common salt.

Having a proper vessel capable of holding from two quarts to a gallon,
fill it half-full of strong _nitric acid_, to which add, in small
quantities at a time, either _old horse-shoe nails_ from the farrier,
they being the purest iron, or the _cuttings of tin-plate_ from the
tin-man's, for this is also very pure iron, although covered with tin;
but the small portion of tin in the iron is not inimical to the dye. Be
careful not to put too much in at a time, nor to stoop near to it while
the solution is going on, as the red fumes arising are very noxious; and
if the iron be added in large quantity, so much effervescence would be
produced, that a considerable part of the liquor would be thrown over the
top of the vessel.

When this solution is prepared in haste the air is greatly contaminated,
and therefore it is best to prepare it long before it is wanted, and
slowly, by dropping hourly small quantities of the iron into the acid,
and then little if any perceptible fumes will arise. Continue this
process till, by stirring with a glass rod or tobacco-pipe, you find the
iron dissolves more slowly: by keeping a little iron at the bottom, and
occasionally adding the acid, you may always have this preparation at
hand.

It is to be used thus:—having a copper of hot water ready, put a part of
it to some cold in a flat tub till the mixture is as hot as the hand will
bear; then, according to the paleness or fulness of your pattern, add
some of the solution of iron, and mix it well by stirring: begin with
about half a pint for two pieces of twenty-four yards each: it is best to
add a smaller quantity than is necessary first, as you can make another
addition as you please, but, if you add the solution in excess, to
diminish it is by no means so easy. Now, having ready a flat tub with
water of as hot a temperature as the hand will bear, put into it a clear
solution of pearl-ash, and have also ready another tub of clear cold
water to wash off in; then pass the pieces (always taking care to have
them well wetted out in one of the tubs of hot water before either the
solution of iron or pearl-ash is put into either of them) through the
solution of iron six or seven times, edging them over by the selvage to
keep them even; next, folding them first even upon a board, wring them
out, wash them off and pass them through the solution of pearl-ash;
lastly, wash them off again in fresh and clean water: a permanent and
bright buff will be found, and as good a colour as can be dyed upon
cotton.

We here see what an affinity iron and cotton have for each other when the
iron is combined with an acid and the combination in a liquid state.
Although the colour is not so beautiful in every instance, yet, be the
acid which dissolves the iron what it may, cotton imbibes the iron from
it.

What is left of the solutions of iron and the pearl-ash may each be kept
in a separate _deal_ tub for use.


_To dye cotton_ PINK.

Take _safflower_ in proportion to its goodness and the quantity of work
to be dyed; put it into pure and clear water; tread it in the water till
the water becomes fully charged with a kind of extractive yellow colour.
It is best to put the safflower into a strong linen bag or sack; a sack
containing sixty pounds will take a man two days to wash it clean: if
done in a clear running stream the yellow colour will of course run away;
if you have a small quantity in a tub it must be let out at a plughole,
which every flat tub should have. _The safflower must be worked or trod
till all the yellow colour is got out of it, or the_ pink _to be obtained
from it afterwards will not be bright._

When the safflower is thoroughly washed, take it out of the bag and put
it into a deal tub or trough, and add to it _pearl-ash_ in the proportion
of six pounds to one hundred pounds of the safflower, which should be
weighed before it is wetted. Let the potash be well dissolved in water;
pour part of the clear solution off, and mix it thoroughly with the
safflower; after having stood for some time strain the liquor through a
cloth or sieve into another deal trough. The whole solution of pearl-ash
should not be put in at once, but at different times. If there should be
reason to believe that the safflower will yield more colouring matter by
a farther addition of the solution of pearl-ash, such additional solution
may be made. The water for the solution and the solution to the safflower
should both be applied cold. Carbonate or mild potash is better than the
caustic. By putting the solution of pearl-ash on the safflower at
different times it will be readily seen when the fluid passes through the
cloth or sieve free from colour.

The colour is of a cherry hue, and is resinous, therefore the water
dissolves but little of it; the carbonate of potash is added to dissolve
this resin.

To overcome the influence of the pearl-ash, which tinges the red of a
yellow colour, some cream of tartar must be finely powdered and dissolved
in boiling water, and added to the liquor when it is nearly cold. In the
South of France lemon juice is used.

The colour, being thus raised by the cream of tartar, is now to be mixed
with cold water in proportion to the fulness of the pattern desired, and
the cloth must be worked six or seven times in it, as in other colours.

What is left of the colour must be taken up with some skein cotton, and
dried; this may be added to water upon another occasion by saturating the
acid with a solution of pearl-ash, which will abstract the dye from the
cotton.

The solution of tartar will again redden the colour from the yellow of
the pearl-ash; this must be done if any remain, for it will not keep in a
fluid state.

We shall not here describe any other process with cotton till we have
treated of wool and silk.

For dyeing cotton _black_, and some other colours, see the chapters V.
and VI.


[7] The difference between _decoction_ and _infusion_ should be always
carefully observed: a _decoction_ is made by _boiling_ the ingredient or
ingredients in any liquor; an _infusion_ is that in which the ingredients
are put but _not boiled_.




CHAPTER III.

ON DYEING SILK.

_To alum silk—The blue vat of indigo for silk—Another blue vat for
silk—To dye silk violet, royal purple, &c.—To dye silk lilac—Another
process for lilac—Another process for dyeing muslin, &c. lilac—To dye
silk a violet or purple with logwood—To dye silk violet with Brazil wood
and logwood—To dye silk violet or purple with Brazil wood and archil._


_To alum silk._

Forty or fifty pounds of alum being dissolved in a copper of hot water,
the solution is to be poured into a tub containing forty or fifty pails
of cold water; during the mixing of the solution of alum with the water
it should be well stirred lest the cold water should crystallize the alum
and spot the silk; when, however, this happens, dipping silk in warm
water will dissolve the alum. The silk should be alumed cold, for, if
hot, the lustre of the silk will be injured. Alum is used for certain
reds and yellows but not for blue. See also chapter VI.

When silk is deprived of its gum so as to acquire the greatest possible
degree of whiteness, it is still necessary to have different shades of
white, some yellow, some blue, and others reddish; these are known under
five denominations, namely, _China white_, _India white_, _thread or milk
white_, _silver and azure white_. All these whites, although differing
from each other by _very slight shades_, are nevertheless apparent,
especially when compared with each other, which will be seen in the
processes of dyeing silk.

For _ungumming and boiling, whitening and sulphuring silk_, see chapter
VI.

We have described _M'Kernan's_ method of preparing and neutralizing
sulphate of indigo in pages 51 and 52, to which the reader will be kind
enough to refer: the following _blue vat_ is from _Macquer_.


_The_ BLUE _vat of indigo for silk._

This should be so contrived that heat may be applied to it, which it now
mostly is, by steam, as well for woollen woad vats as for indigo vats.
For silk, take eight pounds of the finest indigo and six pounds of the
best pearl-ash, and from three to four ounces of madder for every pound
of ash, besides eight pounds of bran for the whole, washed in several
waters to take the flour out. When washed, and the water squeezed out,
the bran is to be put at the bottom of the vat; the pearl-ash and the
madder being mixed by bruising them roughly together, are now to be
boiled a quarter of an hour in a copper containing two-thirds of the vat;
the fire being damped, the liquor is then suffered to rest. Two or three
days previous to this the indigo is to be steeped in a bucket of warm
water, and washed well, the water being changed once or more. Some dyers
begin by boiling the indigo in a ley made with one pound of pearl-ash and
two buckets of water; they afterwards pound it in a mortar quite wet,
and, when it becomes like paste, fill the mortar with the liquor before
boiled, and still hot, stirring it for some time. It is then suffered to
stand a few moments, and then the clear is poured off into a separate
boiler or into the vat. The same quantity of the mixture is then poured
upon the indigo remaining in the mortar and mixed as before; again the
clear is poured off into the boiler, and the operation is repeated till
the whole of the indigo is dissolved in the liquor. The whole of the
liquor in the boiler is now to be gradually poured into the vat on the
bran at the bottom, adding afterwards the remainder of the composition,
grounds and all.

After stirring and raking for some time, the mixture is left to cool till
it will bear the hand in it, when a little heat is added to keep it in
this state, and so continued till it begins to turn green, which is
easily known by trying it with a little silk. When the green begins to
appear it should be stirred with the rake, then suffered to stand till
the brown and coppery scum which rises upon the surface shews that the
vat is come to; or, in other words, the preparation of this part of the
process is complete. But as it is necessary to be very certain of this,
the scum should be well examined; and if, when blown aside, a fresh scum
is immediately formed it is as it ought to be. In this state it is to
remain for three or four hours, when a new composition is thus made:—

Put as much water as is requisite to fill the vat into a copper, boiling
it with two pounds of pearl-ashes and four ounces of madder as at first.
This new liquor is to be poured into the vat, raked and mixed, and being
left to stand for four hours it is then ready for dyeing.

When a vat or vats are set for _green_, double the quantity of madder
must be added. (See Chap. VI.)

The size of the vat for the above quantity of indigo, should be about
five feet deep, two feet or two feet and a half in diameter at the top,
and one foot and a half or two feet in diameter at the bottom: the form
of an inverted frustum of a cone; or of a sugar loaf inverted, with the
pointed top cut off.

In order to produce different shades of blue, the silk intended for the
darkest, should be first dipped in the fresh vat and so on to the
lightest; as the vat weakens the silk should be kept in longer, till the
vat, being exhausted, serves only for the lightest shades. When it begins
not only to be weak but dull, it is then necessary to feed the vat with
the following composition:

Take of the decoction of pearl-ash with indigo one pound; of madder, two
ounces; and a handful of washed bran; boil them together for a quarter of
an hour, either in water or a portion of the same vat if yet sufficiently
full to afford it; after this mixture is added, it should be well raked
and suffered to rest two or three hours, more or less, before the dyeing
is resumed.

For the finest blues, however, a fresh vat is the best; and if only pale
blues are required, a vat set on purpose with less indigo will answer
better than a strong vat which has been weakened, because though weak it
will give more vivid colours.


_Another_ BLUE _vat for silk._

Take fifty pounds of good indigo in fine powder; fifty pounds of fresh
slacked stone lime; one hundred pounds of sulphate of iron; and five
pounds or more of pearl-ashes. Stir often for three or four days till
there is a fine copper-colour scum on the top of the liquor in the vat.
The vat is of course to be set with water in the usual way.

The substance of this form is from _M'Kernan_; we cannot, however, avoid
thinking, that his directions for this vat are very vague.


_To dye silk a_ VIOLET, ROYAL PURPLE, &c.

Boil archil with water in a copper; the quantity of archil according to
the colour required must be from two to four times the weight of the
silk. When the archil has boiled about ten minutes the fire must be
damped, the archil left to subside, and the clear liquor put into a
vessel of a convenient size, in which the silk is to be immersed and
worked with care.

You must have a small corresponding pattern that you intend for purple,
which at times you must put into the blue vat to regulate the depth of
the archil ground, as the purple is a compound colour, arising from the
blue of the indigo and the red of the archil. When the red of the archil
is deep enough, you must wash it off and put it into the blue vat with
proper precaution. The fulness of the archil ground and the depth of the
blue, must be regulated according to the patterns which are to be matched.


_To dye silk_ LILAC.

_Lilac_ is and should be a bright light shade of violet or purple; to
give it the blue requires great management. The vats being generally too
strong, it is best to mix a little of the new rich vat with some
pearl-ash in clean cold water, and so prepare a liquor on purpose, by
which the lilacs may be blued or reddened at pleasure. When this liquor
is first mixed it becomes of a green colour; the silks therefore should
not be dipped till the liquor begins to lose its green colour and
inclines to blue. Pearl-ash added to this liquor helps to blue the
archil, because the effect of the alkali upon red is to render it violet.


_Another process for_ LILAC.

Consists in simply using the _chemical blue_ with archil according to the
shade required.


_Another process for dyeing muslin, &c._ LILAC.

This is accomplished by mixing the neutralized chemic blue for cotton
with the pink dye of safflower, according to the shade required.


_To dye silk a_ VIOLET _or_ PURPLE _with Logwood._

The silk should be alumed and washed. The logwood should be boiled in
large quantities like fustic, as as directed for green; but it should not
be kept longer than two or three weeks; it is far better used cold than
hot.


_To dye silk_ VIOLET _with Brazil wood and Logwood._

The silk must be alumed and cooled as usual; it is then to be alumed and
dyed in a liquor made of Brazil wood of the common heat, then in the cold
logwood liquor, and lastly, a solution of pearl-ash must be added to the
liquor in which the silk is last dyed. It is afterwards to be washed and
dried; but for some shades it is best to have fresh liquor, particularly
for the warm Brazil, the cold logwood, and the solution of pearl-ash: in
this case the quantity of each may be much better regulated.


_To dye silk_ VIOLET _or_ PURPLE _with Brazil wood and Archil._

The silk when alumed is to be dyed in the decoction of Brazil wood
according to the shade required; it is then to be washed and dyed in
archil: and it is afterwards washed a second time. After this it is
dipped in the blue vat, and wrung and dried with the same accuracy used
in greens and blues.

For dyeing silk _black_ and some other colours, see Chapters V. and VI.




CHAPTER IV.

ON SCOURING AND DYEING WOOL.

_On the action of alum and tartar upon wool—A pastil or woad vat for
blue—To prepare the indigo mentioned in the preceding directions—Rules
to judge of the state of the vat—Indications when a vat has had too much
or too little lime—To work a vat which is in proper order—On the
putrefaction of the woad vat—Methods of dyeing blues—To dye wool, with
lac-dye, scarlet, or crimson—To dye worsted yarn a crimson—A
preparation of archil to finish the crimson—On dyeing wool scarlet—To
dye wool maroon—To dye wool yellow—To dye wool brown or of a fawn
colour—To dye wool purple, &c.—To dye wool green—A chemic vat for
green woollen—A chemic vat for blue woollen—To dye wool orange, gold
colour, &c.—To dye wool black—another process for black without a blue
ground—To dye wool grey—Mixture of black or grey with red and blue—On
browns, fawns, greys, &c.—On the yellow of quercitron bark—On a full
bright yellow from the same bark—Bancroft's murio-sulphate of tin—To
dye wool buff—To dye wool peach—To set an Indigo vat for worsted,
serge, &c._


Wool is usually scoured for being dyed with stale urine, the staler the
better: it is used in the proportion of one part to three parts of water,
full as hot as the hands can bear when the wool is worked about in the
fluid.—If the wool be in the fleece, what is called its natural yolk,
and which is said to preserve the wool from the moth, is of a greasy
nature, and is scoured out by the volatile alkali in the urine. If the
wool be in the state of spun yarn it has gallipoli, or rape oil, in its
thread, the spinner, or rather the comber, using it to render the wool
more flexible, &c. It is absolutely necessary that wool, (as indeed every
other material to be dyed) should be made very clean and white, if any
brilliant or bright colour is to be imparted to it. For this reason it is
that the wool is passed two, three, and in some instances even four times
through fresh scouring liquors; in the last, and sometimes in that which
precedes the last, soap is used in the proportion of from seven to
fourteen pounds, and in some instances to twenty one pounds or more, to,
a pack of two hundred and forty pounds of wool, according as it is fine
or coarse: for superfine colours more than common is used. Worsted
requires less than coarse yarn, having less grease and dirt in it.

It ought, however, to be known, that _boiling_ wool _for a long time_ in
any alkaline liquors, or a liquor made of soap, tends greatly to the
decomposition of the cloth; indeed long boiling in any strong alkaline
ley converts wool into a kind of soap, and, hence, it is easy to see why
such processes injure wool or cloths made with it.

The preceding observations apply to the alkalies in a _caustic_ state, or
in the state of _carbonate_, not when they are neutralized by powerful
acids: for wool, when fit to receive the dyes, and if it is designed to
be dyed _yellow_, should boil two hours with one-twelfth or one-tenth of
its weight, of sulphate of alum (common alum) observing proper
precautions, and the use of a sufficient quantity of prepared weld plant
boiled, &c.: or of quercitron bark, as will be shown in the processes of
the different yellows. If it were yarn, and the threads cut in two, it
would be found dyed throughout, and of a body and richness in proportion
to the correct application of the various ingredients, and with due
regard to time, weight, measure, &c.

In the process just mentioned, we may observe, that the quantity of alum
and of the weld plant used will be found very considerable: from one
twelfth to a fourth of alum, and, according to the French method, four or
five times more weld than the quantity of the wool.

When a process of dyeing has been scientifically conducted, the wool will
take so much of the alum that the bath will hardly taste of it; and
afterwards take the colour of the dye bath out of it; so that the
remaining liquor put into a glass will be nearly like water.


_The action of alum and tartar upon wool._

From the experiments of Dr. URE, (_Notes to Berthollet_, vol. ii. p.
323.) it appears that alum has the property of increasing the solubility
of cream of tartar; that as, in using alum and tartar, the wool is
impregnated with alum and a large quantity of tartaric acid, these two
salts should never be employed together, except when the colour is
susceptible of being heightened and rendered brighter by acids, as is the
case with cochineal, madder, and kermes. On the contrary, alum should
never be employed for wools intended to be dyed with woad, or Brazil
wood, the colour of which is easily destroyed or altered by acids.

To conclude these preliminary observations, wool has a strong and
powerful affinity for _all_ dyeing materials; and, therefore, the
processes for dyeing wool are, in general, by no means so complicated as
those for dyeing _cotton_, _silk, &c._; although some colours, even to
these, are readily, and without a complication of processes, imparted.


_A pastil, or woad vat for_ BLUE.

Take, upon as small a scale as can conveniently be tried, a copper
vessel, which will contain about twelve gallons, two thirds full of soft
water, and one ounce of madder. Fix this small copper in a larger copper
of water, so that the heat may be applied to keep the liquor in the
smaller copper at a proper temperature; it will be then, in fact, a
_water bath_.

Having kindled the fire in the afternoon, put in a good handful of bran
and five pounds of woad; at five o'clock in the evening let it be well
stirred and covered over, the liquor being about blood-warm; let the same
heat be continued as nearly as possible, at least so as not to be lower
than _summer heat_ by the thermometer, nor higher than _fever heat_ by
the same instrument. The vat must again be well stirred at seven, at
nine, at twelve at night, at two in the morning, and at four.

_Hellot_, describing this process, observes, that "the woad then working,
some air bubbles began to rise pretty large, but few in number, and of a
very faint colour; it had then two ounces of lime added, and was stirred;
this was four o'clock in the morning; at five a pattern was put in, and
at six it was taken out and the vat stirred. This pattern had received
some colour. At seven o'clock another pattern was put in, and at eight it
was stirred again. The second pattern was tolerably bright. An ounce of
_prepared indigo_, (see p. 75.) was then added; at nine o'clock another
pattern was put in; at ten it was stirred again, taking the pattern out,
and putting in an ounce of lime because it began to smell sweetish; at
eleven another pattern; at twelve at noon it was stirred again. This
process was continued till five o'clock in the evening; then were added
three ounces of prepared indigo; at six another pattern was tried, and at
seven it was stirred again; the last pattern came out of a very good
green, and became a bright blue. One ounce of lime was added to sustain
it till nine o'clock the next morning; patterns were put in from time to
time: the last was very beautiful. The vat was then filled up with water
and a small quantity of bran and stirred; after which patterns were tried
every hour till five o'clock in the evening, when, being in a proper
state, it was immediately worked. Some lime was then added to preserve
it; it was stirred and left to another opportunity to reheat."


_To prepare the indigo mentioned in the preceding directions._

Boil, in a gallon of water, for three quarters of an hour, two ounces of
pot-ash, three quarters of an ounce of madder, and one ounce of bran;
then let the whole settle for half an hour. After all is settled and
taken out of the boiler, and put into another copper with four ounces of
indigo finely powdered, the liquor should be kept stirred, and very hot,
but not be boiled. At intervals some lixivium of lime should be put into
it, and that being cold will keep the liquor from boiling, and render the
pot-ash more active.

As soon as the indigo is dissolved and properly diluted, damp the fire
and cover over the solution; after it is settled put in a pattern, which,
when taken out, will turn blue on being exposed to the air; if it does
not, more clear lixivium must be added. Of this solution of indigo such
proportions are to be added to the woad vat as are directed in the
preceding process.


_Rules to judge of the state of the woad vat._

The vat is ready for working, and to dye blue, when the sediment at the
bottom, on being taken out of the vat changes to a fine brown-green. When
the froth which rises in great bubbles on the surface is of a fine
Prussian-blue, and when the pattern which has been steeped an hour, comes
out of a dark grass-green, and changes in the air to a blue; when the
liquor is clear and reddish, and the drops which stick to the rake are
brown; when the sediment changes colour on being taken out of the liquor,
and becomes brown on exposure to the open air: when the liquor is neither
harsh nor greasy to the feel, and neither smells of lime nor of ley, the
vat is known to be in a proper state for working.


_Indications when a vat has had too much or too little lime._

These extremes ought to be carefully avoided. When the lime is deficient,
or a pattern comes out of a dirty grey, and the sediment does not change
its colour, there is scarcely any effervescence on the vat; the liquor
smells only of lime, or of the lixivium of lime.


_To remedy the deficiency of lime._

If the vat be not too far gone, after the addition of a little bran,
madder, and some woad, then try the patterns from hour to hour; thus you
will be enabled to judge.

A _deficiency_ of lime is evident when there is no effervescence on the
liquor; and when, by dashing about the surface of the liquor, it makes a
hissing noise, and by the bursting of a number of small air bubbles,
which as soon as they are formed break, and appear tarnished, and are not
large, nor of a fine colour; the liquor too has an offensive smell, like
rotten eggs; it is harsh and dry to the feel, and the sediment, as has
been before observed, does not change colour when taken out of the liquor.

Sometimes such a condition of the vat is absolutely irremediable; but
when not gone too far, sprinkle some lime into the liquor, and stir it.
If you can thus remedy the defect, and bring the liquor to smell of lime,
and to feel soft, cover the vat, and let it stand. If, at the expiration
of an hour and a half, the effervescence begin, you may put in a pattern;
in an hour afterwards, it may be taken out, and regulate your process by
the degree of green which the pattern has imbibed; but, in general, when
vats are thus out of order, they are not so soon recovered.


_To work a vat which is in proper order._

The vat being in a proper state, the cross suspended, and thirty ells of
cloth ready, or scoured wool in proportion, designed for black, by dyeing
it of a blue grey; and having passed and repassed the cloth through the
liquor for a full half-hour, it is to be wound round the winch, and
thrown off into the barrow, and aired by the listings to change the green
to blue. After this, a second piece may be dyed by the same process.

Having made this overture, or _first stirring_, as it is also called, the
vat must be stirred afresh, adding lime; but not so much as to destroy
the proper smell and feel. If the vat be in a good state, on the first
day, it may be stirred three or four times; but it must not be
overworked, particularly on the second day.

_Concerning the colours to be obtained to the best possible advantage
from a fresh vat on the first day_,—the first is for _black_, the next
for _royal blue_, and the third a _brown green_. On the _second_ day,
_violet_, _purple_, and _Turkey blues_ in the last stirring. On the
_third_ day, if the liquor be too much diminished, it must be filled up
with hot water. At the end of the week _light blues_ may be done, and on
Saturday night add rather more lime, to preserve the vat till Monday
morning. On Monday morning add more indigo, and stir the paste; keep the
vat liquor at a proper distance from the top. Cover it for two hours;
then put in a pattern, and in an hour take it out; add lime according to
the green shade of the pattern, and in an hour or two, if your vat has
not suffered, you may begin working it afresh.

To keep the cloth, &c. from the sediment, there is always let down into
the vat, before the work is begun, an iron circle, with cords fastened
from the circumference to the centre.


_On the putrefaction of the woad vat._

Whatever be the cause, most certain it is, that the woad vat, even when
prepared in the most careful and scientific manner, is soon disposed, _if
not used_, to go into the putrid fermentation; of this we may be
satisfied, when it smells like rotten eggs, as stated above.

The loss of a woad vat to dyers is extremely serious, both from the
quantity of woad, as well as of indigo, which it contains: these articles
being always expensive. The woad vat being worked by heat directly
applied from an open fire, (the old method of heating it,) was much more
liable to be lost than if it remained cold, or was worked _continually_,
as it usually now is in _London_; added to which, the more equable
application of heat by _steam_, there is not now the danger which there
was in cessation, at uncertain times, and in uncertain states of the vat,
as to richness or poorness of woad or of indigo.

But a dyer in the _country_, whose business is barely sufficient to keep
a vat going, will find more difficulty in this respect. If, therefore, he
does a small batch of work on Monday, but has not half worked down his
vat, and has no prospect for two or three days of doing any more work, he
may possibly try to keep it with lime for a day or two: he may do so, and
in the issue, in some instances, _too much lime_ is the consequence. We
consider, however, that when the vat can be worked daily, and replenished
as it is worked down, as is the case in London, with care and attention,
there is no danger of the loss of a woad vat: in London, such an accident
now seldom happens. The author is, notwithstanding, persuaded that all
the art of man cannot always keep a vat from the state of having either
too much or too little lime, _when heated but seldom_, under a short
course of work: for when a vat is in order, it is like a ripe vegetable;
you must gather it, or it passes the time of its perfection; it may even
be rotten ripe. We say, therefore, WORK THE VAT: withdraw from it, upon
your cloth, its colour, which, as soon as you expose it to the
atmosphere, will combine with its oxygen,—the oxygen with the carbon of
the indigo and the woad. If you play with it too long, the putrid
fermentation will begin, and the vat will be spoiled. The smell of rotten
eggs always proclaims the approach of the mischief.

No one, therefore, should attempt to have a woad vat or vats, unless he
can keep them nearly always at work. When worked down in a moderate time,
and replenished with lime, woad, indigo, &c., working out and
replenishing in, there can be no danger. On the other hand, in proportion
as the vat is out of condition, although partially recovered, it must
always be with more or less loss.


_Methods of dyeing_ BLUES.

Whether the goods be cloth, or skeins of yarn, they must, in all cases,
be first wetted out and wrung, and then put into the vat, worked in it,
taken out and aired, that they may turn from green to blue; and, if
necessary, they must be put in again.

There is no difficulty in dyeing _dark blues_, by repeated dippings; but
if _light blues_ be dyed in vats which are nearly exhausted, they will
not be bright.

Blue vats, upon a large scale, are now mostly heated by steam; they are
then, with little trouble, always in a state for working, without the
necessity of re-heating. They are very convenient for light colours, even
after they become very weak. In some instances, in order to dye light
colours to the best advantage, it would be advisable to set a vat on
purpose, which should be strong in woad and weak in indigo; because the
colour would be given more slowly, and the light colour obtained from
them with much more facility.


_To dye wool with lac-dye,_ SCARLET _and_ CRIMSON.

We have mentioned _lac-lake_ and _lac-dye_ in page 12. Lac-lake is of
very uncertain quality, having many heterogeneous substances mixed with
it. _Lac-dye_ is very superior to lac-lake. Lac-dye is much used for
dyeing woollen yarn scarlet and crimson, for carpets and hearthrugs. It
is used with a peculiar spirit, which may be purchased of the
dry-salters. Some think that this colouring material is nearly equal to
cochineal; the author has, however, never seen any thing dyed with it
equal to the colour obtained from cochineal, although it affords,
nevertheless, a good scarlet.

Lac-dye is used by being powdered and put into a stone pan, (the quantity
must be in proportion to what is likely to be used), with a portion of
the above-named _lac-spirit_ sufficient to make it about as fluid as
treacle; it must be stirred with a glass-rod or a tobacco-pipe. Some use
alum and tartar as a preparation, and some not. After putting the mixture
of lac-lake and spirit in the copper with a proper quantity of water, add
the goods and work them at a boiling heat. For _scarlet_ add quercitron
bark, for crimson, _archil_.

Lac-dye may be, however, prepared for dyeing, by submitting it, in
_powder_, in a leaden vessel, to the action of sulphuric acid, in the
proportion of not more than one part to two of the dye; and after the
lac-dye is dissolved, the acid may be neutralized by carbonate of soda.
With suitable mordants to the cloth or yarn, the colour may be then
applied. Other processes for the employment of this dye are also adopted,
but we have no room to detail them. (See _Ure's Notes on Berthollet_.)


_To dye worsted yarn a_ CRIMSON.

Proportion of wool, one pound; of _alum_, two ounces and a half; of
_white tartar_ in powder, one ounce and a half. Having the water properly
cleared by bran, let the alum and tartar be boiled in it; when it begins
to boil, stir the mixture well, and put in the worsted, which boil in the
liquor for two hours; then prepare a fresh liquor for the _cochineal_,
one ounce of which, in powder, is to be used for every pound of wool;
when it begins to boil, stir it well, put in the worsted, and boil it
till the liquor in the vessel is free from colour, it having parted with
the colouring matter of the cochineal, which should now all be upon the
worsted. If a series of shades be required, less quantities of cochineal,
alum, and tartar, must be used; the lightest shade is dyed first.


_The preparation of archil to finish the_ CRIMSON.

Put as much archil as the goods may require, and according to the
deepness or lightness of the shades of the crimson required, into a
copper of water of a suitable size, and boil it, (the best canary archil
will bear boiling); damp the fire, let the archil settle, and then have a
fresh liquor for the goods to be put in, to receive a proportion of
archil according to the pattern desired to be matched. Begin with the
lightest and end with the deepest, reserving the remains of the archil
liquor, if it be not all spent, for common compound colours of such
shades as it will be advantageous to use it in. (_See the next article._)


_On dyeing wool_ SCARLET.

Scarlet owes its beauty to a solution of tin in muriatic acid. For this
purpose some use muriate of ammonia, commonly called sal-ammoniac, others
use common salt. It is of little consequence whether common salt or
sal-ammoniac be used: different preparations are employed by different
persons. The author has found the following to answer every expectation.

Melt an ounce of grain tin in an iron ladle, till an oxide is formed on
the surface; then pour it from a height or distance into cold water. Pour
the water from it, and it is fit for use, being then called _feathered
tin_. Put this tin into a glass vessel or stone jar, and add to it eight
ounces of nitric acid, eight ounces of water, half an ounce of
sal-ammoniac, and two drachms of nitrate of potash. This preparation is
better if made some time before it is used; it is a compound of nitrate
and muriate of tin.

Should any one prefer a pure _muriate of tin_, the method of making it
will be found in the last chapter, in _observations on crimson and
scarlet upon silk_.

Into a copper of cleared boiling water, the heat being reduced, and
having the worsted wetted out ready; for every pound of which (dry) put
two ounces of _cream of tartar_ or _white tartar_ in powder, and one
drachm and a half of _cochineal_ in powder. When the liquor is ready to
boil, add two ounces and a half of the first-mentioned solution of tin,
which immediately changes the colour; stir it well: as soon as the liquor
boils put in the worsted, and boil it till the colour of the cochineal is
taken up by it. The worsted must now be taken out, when it will be of a
flesh-colour, the water in the copper having lost its colouring matter.
To finish the worsted, another quantity of clean water is made warm, into
which six drachms and a half of cochineal are to be put; just before it
boils, two ounces of the same solution of tin are to be poured in, the
liquor undergoing a similar change as before. The worsted is again put
in, and boiled till it has imbibed the colour; it is then taken out,
wrung, and rinsed in clean water, when the scarlet is in perfection.

_One ounce_ of cochineal to a _pound_ of wool, will impart a colour
sufficiently deep, if managed according to the method above described, no
colour being left in the remaining liquor.

For many _shades of scarlet_ it will be, however, necessary, and, in a
fresh liquor, to add either a certain portion of _turmeric_ or _young
fustic_, to give the scarlet that fiery red which some scarlets have. If
not in an entire fresh liquor, a part of the old liquor must be taken out
before the yellow is added.

When it is wished to dye a regular series of scarlet shades in worsted,
half the quantity or less, for some of the lightest, will be sufficient
of the solution of tin, the tartar, the cochineal, &c. The worsted should
be separated into divisions corresponding with the shades required; the
lightest is of course to be done first: if any deficiency be in the
shade, it may have another dip. This deficiency is easily perceived, and
a very little practice will enable the operator to assort them perfectly.

_It should be noted, that the vessel most proper to dye scarlet in ought
to be made of block tin; such as are used by the scarlet dyers for the
East India Company._

When woollen cloth is to be dyed scarlet, to every hundred pounds of
cloth put six pounds of tartar and eighteen pounds of the solution of tin
at first; the same quantity in the completion; and in each operation, six
pounds and a quarter of cochineal.

For the accommodation of those who would make small experiments, one
ounce of cream of tartar, six ounces of solution of tin, and one ounce of
cochineal, may be used for every pound of worsted or cloth, putting
two-thirds of the solution of tin and the tartar, and a quarter of the
cochineal, into the preparation, and the remainder to the completion.

_Observe_, that although we have given processes for dyeing woollen cloth
crimson as well as scarlet, yet _crimson_ may be obtained in another way:
for alum, the salts in general with an earthy base, and the fixed and
volatile alkalies, possess the property of changing the colour of scarlet
into crimson, the natural colour of the cochineal. The cloth which is
dyed scarlet has only to be boiled, therefore, for about an hour, in a
solution, more or less charged with alum, according as a deeper or
lighter crimson is wanted. When a piece of scarlet has any defects, it is
set apart for crimson. Soap and potash will also produce crimson from
scarlet, but not of so bright a colour as from alum. Hence also we learn
the necessity, in, at any time, working _scarlet_ cloth, to avoid boiling
it with soap or pot-ash, &c. if we desire the scarlet to remain.


_To dye wool_ MAROON.

The worsted or yarn must be boiled for an hour or two in one twelfth its
weight of alum and the same quantity of white argol. It is best, when
there is a large quantity of yarn, to do this on the preceding day: if
your copper hold a pack of two hundred and forty pounds, it will be cold
enough to handle after remaining with the fire out during the night.

When the skeins, &c. are taken out and arranged upon poles or sticks,
have a fresh water ready in the copper, into which put about thirty
pounds of chipped peach-wood, and when it has boiled half an hour, pour
in some water to cool it down, and add fifteen pounds of crop madder;
work the yarn in this liquor rather under a boiling heat. When it is full
enough, for some shades you must add archil. As the whole pack is dyed at
four or five turnings in, some of the parcels may be varied in the hues
instead of confining them all to one shade. The various turnings will
take the greater part of the day to perform. When you choose to have as
many shades as there are turnings in, you divide the drugs into different
portions for different periods of the time, to be used according to the
patterns required. The most economical method of using the drugs being to
follow the patterns one after the other: practice will teach the operator
to do this most advantageously.

More madder than peach-wood gives a lively red; more peach-wood than
madder gives a bright maroon red, bordering on crimson, but more so
without any madder; with the addition of archil it gives a crimson, but
by no means to be compared with the crimson of cochineal. Urine with the
archil renders a less quantity of archil necessary.


_To dye wool_ YELLOW.

The proportion of _alum_ used by dyers in these processes varies from
one-fourth down to one-twelfth, of _tartar_ one-sixteenth is used, for
every pound of cloth. _Equal parts_ of alum and tartar are used for
_worsted_ and _yarn_, each of which (alum and tartar) is only from
one-twelfth to one-tenth of the weight of the material to be dyed.

The shades of yellow are _straw_ yellow, _pale_ yellow, _lemon_ yellow,
and _full_ yellow.

In order that the cloth should be properly impregnated with the mordants
of alum and tartar, according to what is allotted to the shade, whether
light or full, it should be boiled in the preparation at least one hour;
two hours for a full yellow; then a fresh liquor is to be made to receive
the weld, which must be previously boiled: for a full yellow four or five
pounds of weld will be required to one pound of cloth or worsted; for the
lighter shades less of course: but a sufficient quantity only of weld
should be used, and this should be boiled and re-boiled, as it will keep
but a very little time after boiling. If you have a gradation of shades
you will save drugs and expense by dyeing the fullest shades first, and
the lightest last; but by this method the lightest will not be so bright
as if they were done first, and the liquor renewed with fresh boiled
weld, and so on to the fullest shade. At last you must have for the goods
a preparation weak or strong according to the light or full colour of
which they are to be. The last dyeing, whether of cloth or yarn, will
assuredly take all the colour out of the liquor of any consequence.

While expense is not an object, it is best, not only for yellows, but for
all other colours, to have the preparation and the dye proportioned to
the shade, the colour done at once, and the remaining liquor thrown away;
but as the price usually paid for dyeing will not enable the dyer so to
do, he commonly dyes his shades in succession, as above, and with the
utmost economy.


_To dye wool_ BROWN, _or of a_ FAWN COLOUR.

These shades are extremely various, and are dyed without any preparation
with alder-bark, red sanders, sumach, galls, madder, &c. and under a
boiling heat, although it is occasionally necessary to boil some of the
ingredients together previous to the dyeing: for instance, red sanders
will give its colour out best when boiled with galls, alder-bark, sumach,
&c. Cam-wood, bar-wood, walnut rinds, roots, &c. are used in some of
these shades, the varieties of which are almost infinite. Practice is
required in this branch of dyeing equal to or beyond any other.


_To dye wool_ PURPLE, _&c._

Pass the goods through _archil_, next through the _blue vat_, with the
usual precautions, then through hot water. For some shades they should be
alumed, and then dyed with cochineal for the crimson part of the purple.
_Blue_ and _crimson_ make purple, violet, &c. according to the patterns
required.


_To dye wool_ GREEN.

The shades of this colour are very numerous, as _yellow_ green, _pale_
green, _bright_ green, _grass_ green, _laurel_ green, _olive_ green,
_sea_ green, _parrot_ green, _cabbage_ green, _duck's-wing_ green, &c.

The goods must first have a blue ground from the woad vat, light or full
according to the pattern, they are afterwards to be prepared with alum
and tartar, weak or strong according to the lightness or fulness of the
pattern, and are afterwards dyed in weld liquor. Many of the shades of
green are more readily done by dyeing the wool first yellow with old
fustic, with a preparation of alum and tartar, and using the chemic blue
vat made with sulphuric acid and indigo. See page 47.


_A chemic vat for_ GREEN WOOLLEN.

Prepare in the manner described for cotton (page 52.), eight ounces of
indigo and four pounds of sulphuric acid. This preparation need not,
however, be neutralized for wool as described for cotton. In some
instances the preparation is to be for the yellow of fustic one-twelfth
of alum, the same quantity of tartar, and in some cases one-twelfth of
alum only.


_A chemic vat for_ BLUE WOOLLEN.

This is to be made the same as for green; it need not be neutralized as
for cotton. For _blue_, however, _twelve_ ounces of indigo are necessary
to four pounds of sulphuric acid. In dyeing the heat must be much under
boiling, or the using of a high heat would give the blue a green tinge.
This blue colour is very bright, yet not fast, but no preparation is of
any advantage to either its fastness or brightness. Some put alum and
tartar, and some use one, and some the other, to prevent a green cast:
if, however, the wool be fine, white, and worked _much below_ the boiling
point of heat, it will not turn green although neither be used.


_To dye wool_ ORANGE, GOLD COLOUR, _&c._

The processes of crimson, scarlet, and of yellow united produce the
various shades of these colours, _leaving archil out_. See _buff, peach,
&c. on wool_.


_To dye wool_ BLACK.

Black includes a prodigious number of shades, beginning from the lightest
grey or pearl colour to the most intense shade of black. On account of
these shades it is classed by dyers among their chief or primitive
colours[8]; for the greater number of browns, of whatsoever shade they
be, are finished in the same dye as would dye white wool a grey more or
less dark. This operation is called _browning_. The best superfine black
should have a full ground of _mazarine blue_ previously to being finished
black.

A great quantity of cloth and other articles have, however, no indigo
ground, but a ground of logwood, or of logwood and alder-bark, or of
logwood and old fustic, or of logwood, alder-bark, and old fustic, all
boiled together, and sometimes they are boiled in a decoction of oak
saw-dust.

Indigo for the ground is the richest drug, in carbon, that is or can be
used; logwood is next to it: too much logwood, however, whether indigo be
used with it or not, gives the black a foxy hue; alder-bark and old
fustic modify this effect, and are used in small quantities for this
purpose, because the dye from these, as well as that from oak saw-dust,
will produce a soot or dead black.

A _jet_ black is required full and rich, therefore old fustic and oak
saw-dust are only used to modify the richness of the ground as it regards
the blue, whether of indigo or of logwood; for logwood especially,
without these, if overcome with sumach and sulphate of iron only, would
be foxy, purplish, or have a reddish cast.

So many different grounds being used for blacks, and every dyer thinking
his own the best, is the occasion of such a great variety of hues, even
of black, being found in the market. It is, therefore, thought
unnecessary to describe the various methods of dyeing black which are
pursued by different dyers, and which would be, in fact, impossible. But
the author has done what is of much greater importance to the student,
who, after a little practice, let him have a pattern of black to dye,
will know how to do it, let who may have dyed it.

Even a blue-ground is, according to some, dyed afterwards in a decoction
of logwood and galls, or logwood and sumach, and two pounds of verdigris
for a hundred pounds of cloth. Thus, ten pounds of logwood and ten of
galls, are to form the decoction, and are boiled previously for twelve
hours. One third of it with the verdigris is used first, and then the
cloth, after boiling in it for two hours, is aired; it is then passed
through one third more of the decoction of logwood and galls, having
previously had eight pounds of sulphate of iron dissolved in it, and the
scum arising from the solution taken off. The goods are to be worked in
this one hour at a boiling heat, then aired again by turning them about
on a stone floor. The remainder of the decoction of logwood and galls is
then added, with fifteen or twenty pounds of sumach; boil it some time,
and then add five pounds of sulphate of iron; scum it, and let the liquor
cool down, then put the goods in, and work them at a boiling heat an hour
or two, taking them out once or twice, at least, in the time, to air and
cool; they are then to be well washed, and passed through a decoction of
weld liquor, to soften the black, which will be very fine. This process
is chiefly from _Hellot_; but the quantity of sulphate of iron is more by
three pounds than he directs.

When the cloth is blue, it is usually boiled two hours in a decoction of
galls, then washed and aired, when sulphate of iron and logwood are added
to the liquor, and the goods worked in it for two hours, and then washed.

The above have been the processes in practice for a century past in
France, where the galls were not so dear as they now are in England:
sumach is here, therefore, now most commonly used as a substitute for
galls.


_Another process for_ BLACK _without a blue ground._

To dye one hundred weight of cloth, take thirty pounds of chipped
logwood, half a bushel of alder-bark, and six pounds of sumach, and boil
them together in a proper quantity of water for half an hour; then cool
the decoction down with cold water, enter the cloth, turning it on the
winch; bring it to a boil, having the sumach in a bag; boil and keep the
cloth turning for one hour and a half: this is the ground. Have now ready
fourteen pounds of sulphate of iron dissolved in water, which is to be
laded into the copper by one man, while another turns the cloth for an
hour at a boiling heat; it is then to be taken out, cooled, and aired,
returned to the copper, and boiled gently for two hours, and then cooled
again.

While the cloth is cooling, six pounds of logwood, ten pounds of
alder-bark, two pounds of argol, ten of soda, or common pot-ashes, and
three pounds of sulphate of iron, are to be added to the liquor in the
copper, and boiled one hour, when the goods must be turned and worked one
hour; and, lastly, taken out and aired. This black is said to be of the
hue of a raven's feather. _This process is from_ HEIGH.

The _argol_ is professed to be put in to counteract the sulphuric acid of
the sulphate of iron; the _alkali_ is said to cause the logwood to retain
its natural violet colour: and if too great a quantity of logwood be not
used, the result would be as above stated. But the author presumes that
such a black would not be at this time much esteemed. We object to the
introduction of so much, indeed of any alkali or argol, as the time
employed in performing the process is wasted. Alkali is good, however,
where a chemic green is to be dyed black.

Wool will take up whatever the copper contains necessary to dye black;
but, for the beauty of the colour and the durability of the cloth, it is
best to let it have most of its ground of vegetable colour before it has
the sulphate of iron, which blackens that ground, with sumach instead of
galls; and even in some instances, dyeing some goods without the sumach.

Were the author, however, to direct the dyeing of black cloth, such as
should be of the best kind, he would have _an indigo ground with logwood
and alder-bark, without old fustic or oak saw-dust; and to finish the
cloth he would use sumach, sulphate of iron, and a small quantity of
verdigris. He would give it the blue ground first; then the logwood,
alder-bark, and verdigris; and then finish it with sumach and sulphate of
iron._

If the blue ground were omitted, he should dye the cloth twice, giving it
more of logwood and alder-bark, but verdigris the same; and finish it
with sumach and sulphate of iron. Nevertheless, when we dye to a pattern,
the pattern must be our guide.

Different goods will require different quantities of drugs. Logwood
should be about one-fourth of the weight of the goods; the sulphate of
iron about one-fifth of the logwood; alder-bark, when used, about the
same quantity as sulphate of iron; but for some yarns this bark is not
used, nor is it necessary; and where fustic or oak saw-dust is used,
there is the less necessity for using alder-bark. The sumach must be
about the same quantity as sulphate of iron. Remember that carbon is
generally considered as that which makes the richness of a dye. That it
is the iron in the sulphate of iron, combined with the tannin and gallic
acid which are assumed to be in the sumach and logwood, that produces the
blackness of the dye; but this _theory_ is questionable. See _below_.

The way to ascertain when the quantities of drugs are most appropriate
for producing the desired effect is as follows:—

First, ground with different quantities of drugs, from three to five or
seven patterns, and use from one third to one fifth of sulphate of iron
and sumach to the grounding; afterwards finish with the remainder of the
sulphate of iron and sumach: the fuller the ground the richer will be the
black, if the logwood be not in excess, and the quantities be used as
thus stated.

We ought also to state here (from _Berthollet_, vol. ii. p. 4.) that
commonly more simple processes than any of those above described are
employed for black. Thus the blue cloth is simply turned through a bath
of gallnuts, when it is boiled for two hours. It is next passed through a
bath of logwood and sulphate of iron for two hours without boiling, after
which it is washed and fulled.

A black may also be dyed _without a blue ground_ with walnut rinds or the
roots of the walnut tree; in this case the cloth receives a dun ground
from the walnut husks or roots, and is afterwards made black in the
manner above described, with logwood and sulphate of iron.

The blacks, however, _without_ the blue ground are only given in general
to inferior cloths.

The _colouring principle of logwood_ is called _hematin_; it is
crystalline, of a rosy-white, and, viewed through a lens, very brilliant;
its taste is slightly astringent, bitter and acrid; exposed to the action
of fire in a retort it affords all the products of animal substances, and
also a small quantity of ammonia, which proves that it contains nitrogen.
It dissolves easily in boiling water; on adding some acid very gradually,
it changes to yellow and then red. Potash and ammonia give the solution
of hematin a purple red; if a great excess of these alkalies be added,
the colour becomes violet-blue, then brown-red, and finally yellow-brown.
In this state it is decomposed and cannot be recovered by any acids.
Protoxide of lead, protoxide of tin, hydrate of tritoxide of iron,
hydrate of copper, oxide of zinc and its hydrate, flowers of antimony and
oxide of bismuth combine with hematin and give it a blue colour, with the
loss of the violet shade. See _notes_ to _Ure's Berthollet_, vol. ii. p.
420. See the explanation of _protoxide_, &c. under OXIDE in Chapter I.

The above facts concerning logwood may, by the ingenious dyer, be applied
on many occasions with great success.


_To dye wool_ GREY.

All greys, from the darkest to the lightest, are composed of black in
varying proportions. They are of great use in dyeing, not only for their
own colours, but also when applied to other colours, which operation is
called _saddening_ or _darkening_.

Some greys have a woad ground of blue, then of logwood, sumach or
sulphate of iron, of which decoctions of the three last, for expedition,
should be in readiness when wanted. When a succession of light shades, in
particular, is required, in some instances the chemic blue is used: when
we treat of the mixture of black, or rather grey with red and blue, the
utility of grey will be seen.


_Mixture of_ BLACK _or_ GREY _with_ RED _and_ BLUE.

These produce an infinite number of all shades of grey as _sage_ grey,
_slate_ and _lead colour_, and others still darker.


_On_ BROWNS, FAWNS, OLIVES, _&c._

_Browns_ and _Fawns_ owe, in all probability, their colour to the _iron_
which their dyes contain. Iron is so universally diffused throughout
nature, that it, very likely, enters into the composition of many other
colours; it exists in blood, in water, and in innumerable vegetable and
animal substances, as well as in earths and many minerals. Hence we ought
not to be surprised that _blue_, _red_, and _fawn_ produce _olives_ from
the darkest to the lightest; as well as _slate_ and _lavender_ when the
shade is very light.

_Fawn_ and _yellow_ produce the _feuille-morte_ or _dead-leaf_.

_Fawn_ and _red_ produce _cinnamon_, _tobacco_, _chestnut_, _&c._

_Fawn_ and _black_ produce _coffee_, _maroon_, _&c._

_Blue_, _yellow_, and _black_ produce all the _dark greens_, even to
black.

_Blue_, _fawn_, and _black_ produce _dark olives_ and _greenish greys_.
_Red_, _yellow_, and _fawn_ produce _orange_, _gold colour_,
_withered-leaf_, _carnation_, _burnt cinnamon_ and _tobacco_ colours of
all kinds.

_Yellows_, _fawn_, and _black_ produce _hair colour_, _nut-brown_, _&c._

This enumeration is meant only to give a general idea of the ingredients
proper for the production of shades composed of several colours.

Where red forms a component part of the colour wanted, the goods must
have a preparation of alum and argol, strong or weak, according to the
fulness or weakness of the red which forms a part of the compound dye,
such as the half or quarter of the quantity which is required for a full
colour of red; the same as to yellow, and, in proportion, when red and
yellow are joined.


_On the_ YELLOW _of the Quercitron or American bark._

The quercitron bark is said to yield from eight to ten times more colour
than weld, and about four times more than old fustic; this was, however,
Dr. Bancroft's account, who had a strong interest in this dyeing drug, as
stated in the first chapter. He also asserts, that one pound of bark with
muriate of tin, will dye forty pounds of woollen a bright golden yellow,
which afterwards becomes a beautiful and durable scarlet, with a fourth
part less cochineal than is usually employed on other occasions for such
a colour. But Bancroft did not succeed in doing away the old method of
saving tartar and cochineal.

His fullest _yellow_ upon cloth, the author has, however, often tried and
found it rich and golden; the process is as follows:

Cloth one hundred pounds; bark in powder, and in a bag, ten pounds;
muriate of tin, or _murio-sulphate of tin_, (_for which see forward_,)
ten pounds. The bark in the bag must be first immersed in the proper
sized vessel for six or eight minutes; then add the solution of tin and
stir it well for two or three minutes, when the cloth must be put in, and
kept in motion by two or three men working over the winch from end to
end; then proceed to boil; and, in _fifteen minutes_ boiling, the highest
yellow is produced; a longer time would turn the yellow brown.

When a very bright yellow, approaching less to orange, is wanted, seven
or eight pounds of solution of tin, five pounds of alum, and ten pounds
of bark, will do for a hundred pounds of cloth. In this process, boil the
bark first in a bag for a few minutes, then add the solution of tin and
the alum, and the cloth afterwards, as before directed; less body
requires less quantities of course.


_For a full_ BRIGHT YELLOW _delicately inclining to a greenish tinge._

Use eight pounds of quercitron bark, to six of muriate of tin, six pounds
of alum, and four pounds of white tartar, for cloth as before. The alum
and tartar render the yellow more delicate, and give it more of the lemon
or greenish tinge; where this is wanted in the greatest perfection
proceed as follows:

Take ten pounds of bark, ten of muriate of tin, or murio-sulphate of tin,
ten of alum, and ten of tartar. For cloth three or four times the
quantity of the preceding processes may be taken, namely three or four
hundred pounds.

In this process the bark must be boiled fifteen minutes in water only,
and then the other ingredients be added and mixed in the liquor by
stirring. The cloth is next to be put into it, _the liquor being first
cooled a little_; it is then immediately to be turned briskly on the
winch till the colour is sufficiently raised.

When a variety of shades are wanted, in working the bark, (contrary to
the processes for many other colours) the higher shades should, in this
colour, be dyed first, and the weaker afterwards. When about two-thirds
of the quantity of the cloth have been dyed, it will be generally found
that the liquor, by continuing to extract colouring matter from the bark,
has acquired an over proportion, and wants a small quantity of muriate of
tin, of alum, and of tartar, perhaps a pound of each, to enable the bark
at last, as well as at first, to give the same delicate, pale and
greenish tinge. A surer way, however, is to boil the bark in a small
quantity of water, separately, for six or eight minutes; and then to add
to it the solution of tin, alum, and tartar, and boil them with the bark
together for fifteen minutes, and then damp the fire; then have the cloth
in a proper sized vessel, supplied with boiling water, and the cloth
moving on the winch; after it has gone a few turns round, and is
thoroughly wetted out (which it should be before, and now again) lest any
part should be dry, add the supplies of the yellow liquor above
described, by little and little as they may be wanted: in this way
expectation is surpassed by the beauty produced.


_Bancroft's murio-sulphate of tin_

is made thus:—Take of muriatic acid, three pounds; of feathered tin, as
described in the process of _dyeing wool scarlet_, fourteen ounces; to
the tin add gradually the muriatic acid; afterwards, with due and great
precaution, by degrees, in the course of a day or two, two pounds of
sulphuric acid. Care must be taken that the vessel in which this
operation is conducted, be of _stone ware_ or of _glass_. These acids
being mixed with the tin, should be left to saturate themselves with it,
which they will do in time, without artificial heat; but the dissolution
of the tin will be rapidly promoted by a sand heat. This murio-sulphuric
solution of tin, thus made, will be perfectly transparent and colourless,
and will probably remain so for years, without suffering any
precipitation of the metal.


_To dye wool_ BUFF.

This is done with the most economy after scarlet, and, in such case,
requiring very little addition (in some cases none) of cochineal. The
wool, having an alum preparation, it may be requisite to add some fresh
prepared decoction of young fustic or weld. _See the next article._


_To dye wool_ PEACH.

This process is the same as the last; that is, after scarlet; but the
wool is not to be alumed: in some cases, a little tartar and cochineal is
added.

_Observe_, that the cochineal and tartar being added, the previous
preparation must be according to the fulness or faintness of the shade
wanted, whether of _buff_, _peach_, or _flesh_, all of which require,
essentially, the same process. By such means, a pattern of any shade,
compounded of red and yellow, from scarlet to the weakest buff and flesh,
may be produced.


_To set an indigo vat for worsted, serge, &c._

The vat being five feet high, and two feet in diameter at top, you may
use for it from two to six pounds of indigo, according as you set it
light or full.

Boil two pounds of potash, two ounces of madder, and a handful of bran,
in fifteen gallons of clear soft water, for half an hour.

The indigo must be powdered; after which it must be levigated in a
peculiar circular cast-iron mill, having a contrivance for two large
round stones, or cast iron balls, which are kept in a perpetual circular
motion while the indigo is ground. Water it, and put it into the mill,
and as the balls run round, the indigo in the water is reduced to a fine
flowery paste. There are mills more convenient than these, but, perhaps,
none more simple for a small concern.

When the indigo is thus prepared, boil it in the copper with the grounds
of the madder and the potash, which fell to the bottom; it is all, then,
to be put into the vat at the same time with the indigo; the whole is to
be stirred, the vat covered, and heat applied to make it more than blood
warm, and to keep it so. The vat should be stirred twice, slightly, both
the second and third day, the heat remaining the same; when a brassy
scum, divided and interrupted in many places, begins to appear on the
surface. On the fourth day, the heat being continued, the scum becomes
more perfect and less broken, the froth which rises, upon stirring, is
more blue, and the vat a deep green.

When it becomes green in this manner, it is an indication that it must be
filled; to do which, boil half an ounce of madder, and one pound of
potash, in five gallons of water; put in this liquor, and stir it; if it
produce much froth, stir it again, and the next day it will be fit for
working; which, however, will be sufficiently known by the quantity of
froth, and by the brassy and scaly crust on the surface of the liquor, on
blowing or stirring which, the liquor beneath is green, although the
surface appears brown or blue.

When the vat has worked about forty or fifty pounds of serge or worsted,
it may be necessary to replenish it with one pound of potash, half an
ounce of madder, and a handful of bran; these being boiled a quarter of
an hour, are added to the vat.

When this vat wants replenishing with indigo, which may be known by the
liquor being no longer green, but brown, blue, or almost black,
two-thirds of it must be put into a copper; when ready to boil, the scum
on the top must be taken off by a sieve, after which it should be
suffered to boil, with the addition of two handfuls of bran, a quarter of
a pound of madder, and two pounds of potash; soon after it has boiled, it
is to be put into the vat with one pound of indigo, prepared as before;
the vat being again stirred, and covered, the heat always remaining
between blood and fever heat.

When an indigo vat has been several times re-heated, it should be emptied
out entirely, and set anew, because the colour becomes dull. _The
preceding process is from Hellot._

[8] It is necessary that the student should not confound the terms
_primitive_ colours here with the _prismatic_ or _primary_ colours, for
the discovery of which we are indebted to Sir Isaac Newton. See _the
Introductory Chapter_.




CHAPTER V.

ON DYEING SILK AND COTTON BLACK, &c.

_To dye silk black for velvets—To dye silk black, London process—On
dyeing cotton black at Rouen—To dye cotton black, London process—For
dyeing black, particularly cotton velvets, at Manchester—On dyeing silk
and cotton black, with a blue ground—Another iron liquor—To dye cotton
black, by using the preceding solution—To dye cotton violet—To dye
cotton red—To dye cotton an Adrianople or Turkey red—Miscellaneous
observations relative to Adrianople red._


Some of the more simple and less difficult processes of dyeing both
_cotton_ and _silk_, are described in the preceding chapters; we shall
now describe those, not only for black, but for some other colours, which
require more care and attention. _For ungumming and boiling silk, &c. see
Chap. VI._

Silk has a strong affinity for galls, and advantage is sometimes taken of
this: for silk, being a valuable article, is often galled to excess,
merely to increase its weight.

Cotton has a strong affinity for iron, and iron has the same for _gallic
acid_, wherever it may be found; therefore, in sumach, alder-bark, &c.,
iron unites with the acid, whenever both are connected by the medium of
water. _Tannin_, doubtless, has also some share in such dyeing processes,
although what does not even now appear to be well understood.

Black, MACQUER observes, is rather difficult to be dyed upon silk; or, at
least, there is reason to think so, from the numberless experiments which
have been found necessary to the attainment of a good black, as well as
from the multitude of heterogeneous ingredients which Macquer admitted
into the composition of his various processes for this dye, some of which
consisted of arsenic, corrosive sublimate, litharge, antimony, plumbago,
and about ten other ingredients! we shall not, therefore, detail such
preposterous mixtures; one, however, we may just put down by way of
showing what the art was in Macquer's time.

Take twenty quarts of strong vinegar, one pound of black nut galls
pounded, and five pounds of iron filings; these ingredients are to be
mixed in one vessel.


_To dye skein silk_ BLACK _for velvets, Genoa process, (from Macquer.)_

The silk should be ungummed by boiling it four hours with a quarter of
its weight of white soap, and afterwards to be well cleared from the soap.

Take, for every hundred pounds of silk, twenty pounds of galls in powder,
and boiled one hour; two pounds of sulphate of iron; twelve pounds of
iron filings; and twenty pounds of gum arabic or senegal.

This process is very simple: here are the gallic acid and tannin of the
galls, and the iron of the sulphate and the filings. But we must proceed
to a more modern process.


_To dye silk_ BLACK, _the London process._

Take of wove silk, _twilled sarsenet_, one hundred and fifty yards. Boil,
for three hours, of alder bark one bushel and a half; of logwood fourteen
pounds; and of iron filings one pound. Then let the fire be damped;
dissolve four ounces of sulphate of copper in water; wet out the silk in
hot water; after which put the solution of sulphate of copper into the
liquor and stir it only; then put the silk into the copper, and work it
from end to end four times; after which take it out in the air; now put
it in again and work it as before; take it out again and let it be aired
on the floor, opening it from time to time till it is cold; repeat the
same thing twice more, in all _four times_. This is termed four wets.
While the last wet is cooling and airing, dissolve and put into the
copper three pounds of sulphate of iron, and then give the silk two more
wets, which make the number of wets six. The drugs are now left to boil
as much as they will during the night, being left so to do, because in a
large business, this part of the process would close the day's work.

The next morning give the silk four or five wets more, and leave it in
the copper all the following night, observing when it is left in, and
always when it is worked in, that the heat, must be considerably under
the boiling point, and the silk kept covered by the liquor: for _if any
part be exposed to the air it will be marked_.


_On dyeing cotton_ BLACK _at Rouen, (from D'Apligny.)_

Take one hundred quarts of sour wine, bad vinegar, or small beer; put to
either of these twenty-five pounds of old iron hoops rusted by the air or
dew; twelve pounds of rye meal or coarse bran; put the whole into a
copper and heat it rather more than blood warm. In the summer it would do
exposed to the sun and air with a porous cloth over it, to let in the
air, but keep out dirt, &c. the older this solution is the better; but
it should be at least _two months old_.

Cotton skeins are galled by being worked in a solution of galls; alumed
and then dyed in weld liquor; this in the result is yellow; they are then
passed through a decoction of logwood, and after that of sulphate of
iron, a quarter of a pound to every pound of cotton; they are then dyed
in madder, half a pound to every pound of cotton.

We cannot recommend this process, although we give it, as much better
methods are now known.


_To dye cotton_ BLACK—_the London process_—_used by various calico
printers in the suburbs._

Cotton cambric piece-goods are passed through a blotching machine to
receive a mordant of acetate of iron, and galled slightly; sumach is used
instead when galls are dear; the cotton is then passed through logwood,
or logwood and fustic, and then through sumach; so that it is possible
thus to give them the mordant sufficiently in proportion to the iron
liquor at first; proceed as in dyeing afterwards, at a heat approaching
boiling or even boiling. You may now proceed by adding first the galling
or sumach slightly; afterwards the logwood, &c. and then the remainder
of the galling or sumach may be used to finish it; and thus dye the goods
black by the quickest possible process.

It should be observed respecting the last process and the process which
precedes it, that in dyeing black alum is inimical to the colour.
Therefore D'Apligny's is not now esteemed. Alum for black is as improper,
as it is proper and essential for red and yellow.

In regard to giving the acetate of iron for black at once, as the second,
or _London_ process directs, it may be done by having the proportions
full; by _full_ is meant that the mordant should be full enough; then,
after the slight galling, as directed in giving the logwood and alder
bark decoction, or logwood and fustic, be sure to have that decoction
strong enough. This might be called the ground; and the most perfect
judgment might be formed of it by having a part of a piece, or one piece
of a batch dried in the stove: for, according to the fullness of the
ground, so will the black be rich and perfect or otherwise.

The alder bark and fustic are used only to prevent the hue of the logwood
from being predominant. If the ground be a full and rich brown, the
second full galling or sumaching will bring it to a full and rich black;
but, if the ground be poor, these processes will cut or destroy the
ground, and the black will be foxy, nasty, and poor; and not only so, but
the material dyed will soon wear rotten, because having an over-dose of
iron, the iron will tend to decompose the cotton. Therefore the following
process is most esteemed.


_For dyeing_ BLACK _(particularly cotton velvets) at Manchester._

In a large dye-house where much business is done, a great many wine-pipes
or other large tubs, or any substitutes are arranged in an appropriate
place. Into these are put old iron hoops, rusted in the air, and cut into
short pieces; a layer of the iron pieces and a layer of the alder bark,
again a layer of iron and a layer of the bark, and so on in succession
from the bottom to the top. When the pipes are all thus filled, water is
poured into them till they are filled up; they remain in this state for
six weeks or two months according to the season, whether summer or winter.

The same process will do for any other cotton goods as well as velvets,
such as calicoes, cambric, and jaconot muslins, cotton in the skein, &c.

In some cases there are persons who pass the goods through the _liquor_
of the aforesaid black vat. The colour of this liquor when it is fit for
use is purplish, particularly after being once used and returned to the
vat again, which it always is. Others begin by passing the goods through
a decoction of logwood and sumach, then through sulphate of iron, then
wash off through logwood only; then through sulphate of iron; always
washing off from this last; the goods are then dried, and this is called
the _first time of saddening_.

They are next passed through logwood, then through sulphate of iron, then
washed off, then again through logwood, then sulphate of iron, and then
washed off; and then dried. This is called the _second time of saddening_.

Supposing the goods to consist of a hundred or a thousand pieces, after
drying the second time they are brought in lots to the foreman for
examination, and assorted into lots one, two, and three. All that is fit
for lot one is full enough and has ground enough, and is of a rich
full-bodied brown, ready for galling or _sumaching_: sumach being the
substitute for galls, this process is termed in the dye-house, _macing_.
Lot two is not full enough, and must pass through logwood, then sulphate
of iron, and then be washed off. Lot three is still more deficient; this
must be passed through logwood and the sulphate of iron twice and then
washed off, and both lots two and three dried again.

Lot one is now to be sumached for the _first_ time: that is, passed
through a decoction of sumach, then through sulphate of iron, and then
washed off: if the decoction of sumach be kept up strong after all of
them are once sumached, they may be dried. Lots two and three, when they
are dry, are also to be sumached the same as lot one, and dried.

As soon as any of them are dry they are ready to be sumached the _second_
time by passing them through the decoction as before; but instead of
sulphate of iron, some of the alder bark and _iron liquor_ are used; or
as we shall term it, the _liquor of the black vat_. They are then to be
washed off and dried. If the black liquor and the sumaching be powerful,
some of the goods will be finished when dry. Such are examined by the
foreman; those which are not finished must go through the last process
again. The finished goods are well and repeatedly washed off in fresh
clear soft water two or three times and then dried.

The _cambric muslins_ are sent to be calendered to imitate silk sarsenets.

_Book-muslins_ must be sent to the muslin dressers, except where, in some
cases, they sarsenet and dry their own goods.

By the above method the ground is secured, and so is the black, and also
the strength of the goods.


_On dyeing silk and cotton_ BLACK _with a blue ground._

It is remarkable, that although an indigo ground for wool enriches the
black, yet for silk and cotton it is not generally considered necessary.
Latterly, however, we believe the dyers of black on cotton do first give
it an indigo ground before the black is given. This is, nevertheless, not
a new method, for D'Apligny describes the process in his Art of Dyeing,
_for linen and cotton yarns_; these are first dyed sky-blue in the vat,
then wrung out and set to dry. They are galled in the proportion of one
part galls to four of yarn, being left twenty-four hours in the gall
liquor, wrung out anew, and set to dry: about ten pints of iron liquor to
every pound of yarn are then poured into a tub, in this the yarn is
turned on sticks, and worked with the hand for a quarter of an hour, it
is then wrung out and aired. This operation is twice repeated, adding
each time a new dose of the iron liquor; the yarn is aired once more,
then wrung out, well washed, and dried. To complete the dyeing of the
yarn a weight of alder-bark equal to that of the yarn is boiled with a
sufficient quantity of water for an hour; to this is added one half of
the bath which has served for the galling and sumach. The whole is boiled
for two hours. When cold the yarn is put in and worked, aired
occasionally, and then left in the bath for twenty-four hours, when it is
wrung out and dried. To complete it, it is steeped and worked in the
residue of a bath of weld, to which a little logwood is added; it is then
taken out, wrung, and immediately passed through a tub of warm water,
into which one part of olive oil to sixteen of yarn has been poured. It
is finally wrung out and dried. See URE'S _Berthollet_, vol. ii. page 18.


_Another iron liquor; pyrolignite or acetate of iron._

Although we have described an _iron liquor_ in a preceding section, it
may be useful to give the following process for another here. Fill a
cast-iron boiler with pyrolignous acid, add to it old iron well oxidized,
and boil. The solution of the oxide will take place rapidly. When the
iron grows clean, and the solution black as ink, throw the whole into a
cask, to be employed as occasion shall require.


_To dye cotton_ BLACK, _by using the preceding solution._

Prepare the cotton as usual, by giving it a blue ground; gall it, and
pass it through a bath of the solution of pyrolignite of iron diluted
with lukewarm water. Renew the gallings and the passings through the bath
of pyrolignite of iron till a deep and brilliant black is obtained.
Finish by passing the cotton through olive oil thus: throw on some
lukewarm water a little olive oil, pass the cotton through it; the cotton
absorbs the oil, but it must be worked a long time in the bath to diffuse
the oil equally. Dry in the shade. The cotton is now a perfect and very
durable black.

Every time the bath of pyrolignite is used, what remains must be thrown
away; the old baths are never added to the cask.

The application of oil, which heightens the black, and imparts softness
to the stuffs, is given to such articles as cotton velvet by means of
brushes, which are slightly imbued with it. _Berthollet._

We may add here, that an iron liquor called _tar-iron liquor_, prepared
from the acid obtained from tar, (the acetic acid we presume) is now well
known in commerce, but we have not room, nor does it appear necessary, to
describe the method of making it; it is much used in preparing mordants
for black and other colours by the dyers and printers of silk. This iron
liquor may be obtained of Blake, North Street, Back Church Lane, St.
George's in the East, London. See _M'Kernan_.


_To dye cotton_ VIOLET.

Pass the skeins through the black vat and dry them, then pass them
through a decoction of galls and dry them again, then through a decoction
of logwood, then of alum and verdigris, washed off, and dried.

Or thus: by the black vat liquor, that is, the liquor of old iron and
alder bark in some cases. Let the vat liquor be prepared from the iron
hoops, vinegar, rye, or coarse bran, described in page 108. By this
liquor it is easy to procure all the violet shades from the pansy flower
up to the lilac and violet.

The goods must be first blue-vatted and dried, then galled and dried,
then passed through the iron liquor, then maddered, then washed off, and
dried; the liquor must always be kept much below a boiling heat, as this
heat makes the colour obtained from madder brown: whatever drugs require
boiling must be prepared by a decoction previously made.

For some shades sulphate of copper is used; for others verdigris,
saltpetre, and alum.

To dye to the pattern the preparations should be always of one given
strength, and all solutions of mordants the same. The time of working the
goods in the dye must be regulated by the fulness or lightness of the
pattern; and the quantities of the various drugs, &c. used much or little
accordingly, reserving patterns of processes, with the particulars of
such processes noted down. In proportion to the number of these upon
record, and with strict attention to the subject, a good pattern dyer is
formed. Time and practice are, however, absolutely necessary, with a
delight in the business: for without a pleasure in dyeing no one can
become a good or an eminent dyer. In many of the branches of this art
there are, it is true, labour and pains in abundance; but there is also a
portion, and that not a small one, of pleasure in others, which will
counterbalance the care, anxiety, labour, and fatigue inseparable from
this useful and important occupation, and which so strikingly exhibits
the science and ingenuity of man.


_To dye cotton_ RED.

If the cotton skein has not been cleansed since it was spun it must be
cleansed by being boiled in a solution of potash, one ounce of which, if
good, to a pail of water may be enough, or more than enough. The cotton
must be put into bags when boiled, then washed off and passed through
clean water, scoured with a little sulphuric acid, and then washed off
again; then galled, washed off, and dried. The galls should be white
galls: for twenty pounds of cotton five pounds of bruised galls are
boiled in about one hundred and twenty quarts of water for two hours.

After galling, the cotton must be alumed: four ounces of Roche alum for
every pound of cotton. When alumed it must be washed off and dried.

The cotton is now to be dyed in a copper containing six pounds and a
quarter of best crop madder, with a sufficiency of water. The heat is
kept under that of boiling for three quarters of an hour. After being
aired, washed, &c. it is put in, worked, and boiled for twelve or fifteen
minutes. Some dye it again two days after, because the longer to a
certain degree between aluming, dyeing, and drying, and between one
dyeing and another, the better. The second time of dyeing eight ounces of
madder are used for every pound of cotton. Some dyers gall it twice, and
consequently dry it as often, then dye it at once in the madder, having a
proportion accordingly. This is a red full-bodied colour.


_To dye cotton an_ ADRIANOPLE _or_ TURKEY RED.

For one hundred pounds of unbleached cotton, take the following articles
and pursue the described processes.

Lixivium No. 1. Dissolve one hundred and fifty pounds of alicant soda,
(barilla) in three hundred quarts of river water. There must be no more
water than enough to dissolve the salt. An egg must float on it or it
will not be strong enough.

Lixivium No. 2. One hundred and fifty pounds of fresh wood ashes, and
three hundred quarts of water.

Lixivium No. 3. Seventy-five pounds of quicklime, and three hundred
quarts of water.

The cotton is to be boiled three hours in a liquor composed of equal
parts of each of the above solutions, taken from them when clear and in a
settled state. The liquor must be replenished occasionally, so that it
shall always cover the cotton during the whole time it is boiling; after
which it must be taken out, washed, and dried in the air.

Into one hundred and thirty quarts of a mixture consisting of equal parts
of the above three lixiviums, put twenty five pounds of sheep's dung and
part of the intestinal liquor, previously well mixed by means of a wooden
pestle, and the whole strained through a hair sieve. Then twelve pounds
and a half of good olive oil is poured into the mixture, when it
instantly forms a soapy liquor.

Into this liquor the cotton should be worked hank by hank, often stirring
it; the cotton, after all the hanks have been worked separately first, is
then left in the liquor for twelve hours; it is then taken out, lightly
wrung and dried. The liquor is put by for brightening. This process is
repeated three times during the working; and by the time the solution is
all worked four hundred quarts might be used, but that will not injure
the clear of it from being applied in brightening; and it must be
reserved for that purpose.

When the cotton has been three times dipped in this soapy water, and
three times dyed, the same process is repeated, except that the sheep's
dung is left out; the liquor is also preserved for brightening. The
cotton, having gone through these processes, should be as white as if it
had been bleached.

When dry it is to be galled, using a quarter of a pound of galls to every
pound of cotton; after this it is dried, then take six ounces of alum for
the first aluming; it is then to be dried again, and to hang three or
four days in the air, and then, when dry, to be alumed again; four ounces
of alum, and four of the lixivium may be added to the last alum water.

The madder used for this red is called _lizary_, which furnishes a dye
incomparably finer than that produced by any other madder. Of lizary
madder, therefore, take two pounds for every pound of cotton, and twenty
pounds of liquid sheep's blood well mixed with the water in the copper
before the madder is put in. The butcher should stir the blood to prevent
its coagulating; the copper should be carefully skimmed; the madder
should not boil, but be brought during the process from blood-heat to
within a few degrees of the boiling point: if it boil at last, as some
prefer it, it should only be for a few minutes.

In order to brighten the colour, the cotton is dipped in a lixivium of
fresh wood ashes, and five pounds of _white_ soap: yellow or mottled soap
is improper. When the cotton has been well worked in this liquor, it is,
with the liquor itself, put into a copper sufficiently large to hold it
with some addition of water, and made to boil over a slow fire, for
three, four, or more hours. The liquor must be covered with coarse white
linen cloths, to keep as much steam in as possible.

Some of the skeins of cotton must be taken out from time to time, and
washed perfectly; when the red is judged perfect and sufficiently bright,
the fire is withdrawn.

If instead of the wood-ash lixivium and soap, the two reserved liquors
and soap are used, the red will be much brighter than the finest
Adrianople carnation.


_Miscellaneous observations relative to_ ADRIANOPLE RED.

In regard to the above processes, we may observe, that those given for
Adrianople red in _Ure's Berthollet_, are more numerous, being regularly
numbered to the _seventeenth_, or last operation called _brightening_.
After a careful attention to those processes we see no reason to alter
our own, yet we nevertheless advise the dyer to become acquainted with
what is stated in that work, many details being there given for which we
have not room, particularly for making _different shades_ of the colour.
We add, however the following from vol. ii. p. 140.

"Cotton dyed red, may, moreover, be made to pass through all the shades,
down to the palest orange, thus: pure nitric acid is diluted with
two-fifths of water; chips of tin are oxidized in it till the liquor
grows opal; the solution is employed at different strengths; the colour
varies according to the concentration of the solution: when it is strong,
shades are obtained which have some relation to those of scarlet.

"In general, when brilliant colours are desired, we must not charge them
too much with oil; we must give feeble leys long repeated, charge little
with alum, employ the best madders, and, at last, brighten powerfully
without sparing soap."

We have directed _good_ olive oil; but M. VITALIS directs fat oil,
(_gallipoli_) to be used in the processes for dyeing Adrianople red, and
Berthollet says, it must not be a _fine oil_, but one containing a strong
portion of the extractive principle.

A factory for dyeing this red was first established in this country in
1790, by M. PAPILLON, who obtained a premium from the Commissioners and
Trustees for Manufactures in Scotland, for communicating the details of
it on condition it should not be divulged for a term of years, during
which _M. Papillon_ was to have the sole use of his secret. This term
being expired the process was published. See vol. xviii. of _Tilloch's
Magazine_.

M. VITALIS, (in his work on Dyeing published in 1823) has given, at
length, the _mode of dyeing Turkey red at Rouen_. It differs in many
particulars from Berthollet and others. We learn from him that two
systems for imparting this colour are in use at Rouen. The first is
called the _grey course_ from the cotton being subjected to the maddering
immediately after it has received the oily preparations, and the mordants
of galls and alum which give it a _grey_ colour. The _yellow course_, is
so called from the cotton, after having received a first time the oily
preparations, as well as the mordants of galls and alum, _not_ being
exposed to the maddering till it has passed a second time through the
same preparations, and the same mordants which give it _a yellow_ colour.
This second manner of working the Turkey red is called, in the dye-house,
_remounting on the galls_. Dr. URE, in a note to Berthollet, vol. ii. p.
378, has detailed these two courses, and made, besides many valuable
observations on them, and the dyeing of Adrianople red generally, for
which we must refer to the work, as our limits prevent the possibility of
any further notice of them here, except to add, that a _process for
dyeing cotton of a smoke red_; and another for _dyeing cotton a cherry
red_, is well deserving the attention of the dyer.

In regard to the _blood_ used in dyeing Adrianople red, Dr. Ure decidedly
affirms, that "_it adds no colouring matter to the madder in the dyeing
operation_;" in this he is countenanced by the observations of Chaptal,
see Berthollet, vol. ii. p. 141. "To the use of blood in the madder
copper," says Dr. Ure, "I attribute nothing, as from the rancid and
putrid state in which I have seen it used, were it not for the prejudice
of the operator, it might be safely dispensed with." A very eminent
calico manufacturer, whom Dr. Ure consulted, assured him, that in the
Turkey red process the only essential mordants were oil and alumina; and
that bright and fast reds, equal to any produced by the complicated
processes of sheep's dung, galls and blood may be obtained without those
articles.

We make no comments on these observations, but leave them to the good
sense and intelligence of the dyer: they deserve the utmost attention.

_Linen yarn_ takes a colour almost as brilliant as that of cotton, but it
must be passed through a double number of oils and leys. The latter must
even be very strong, otherwise the oil flows out at the surface. The
greatest attention must be bestowed on the scouring out first: for the
yarn mingles and entangles by the heat to such a degree, that it
sometimes can be neither dipped nor unravelled.

It should be mentioned that the large dyers of Adrianople red, now obtain
their soda for lixivium No. 1, by using common salt in solution, to which
is added a solution of pearl-ashes. On boiling these together a muriate
of potash is formed, which is taken out of the liquor with a skimmer; a
_carbonate of soda_ remains dissolved in the liquor, and is, of course,
applied to the same purpose as, and at a much cheaper rate than, the
Alicant soda.




CHAPTER VI.

ON DYEING COTTON AND SILK.

_To dye skein cotton yellow—On dyeing and re-dyeing cotton furniture
yellow—To dye cotton skein a duck's wing green and olive—Of browns,
maroons, coffee colours, &c.—Observations on silk—On ungumming and
boiling silk—Whitening—Sulphuring—On aluming silk—Skein silk for
yellow—Preparation of annatto, for aurora, orange, moidore, gold colour,
and chamois—To dye silk aurora or orange—To dye moidore—Process for
orange—To dye silk poppy or coquelicot—A cheaper poppy with annatto and
Brazil wood—On dyeing silk a fine crimson—Composition for dyeing silk
scarlet or crimson, with cochineal—Another process for crimson—Crimson by
Brazil wood—Of fine violet—Observations on crimson and scarlet upon
silk—On dyeing silk green—On olives—On dyeing silk grey—Nut-Grey—Black
greys—Iron greys—On dyeing silk of a Prussian blue colour—Chromate of
lead for yellow on silk or cotton—Conclusion._


We have in several preceding chapters treated of both _cotton_ and
_silk_; we shall here treat of certain processes and colours relative to
both these substances, which are most conveniently arranged in this
chapter.

The simpler processes for _cotton_ will be found in the _second_ chapter,
the more complex in the _fifth_; the simpler processes for _silk_ are
given in the _third_ chapter, the more complex in the _fifth_; the
remaining processes for both in the present chapter, will conclude the
work.


_To dye skein cotton_ YELLOW.

The same operations as those in the first common red dye are to be used
here; to one pound of cotton four ounces of roche alum, and from one to
four pounds of weld.

When dyed the cotton is to be worked in hot, but not boiling, liquor,
consisting of four ounces of sulphate of copper to every pound of cotton;
it is then to be boiled for three hours in a solution containing four
ounces of soap to every pound of cotton.

When a dark or _jonquil colour_ is wanted, no alum is used; of weld take
two pounds and a half, very little verdigris, or a little alum in its
stead, but nothing else. For brightening, however, boiling in a solution
of soap is in all cases necessary.


_On dyeing and re-dyeing cotton furniture_ YELLOW.

If the furniture, such as rough or finished cotton or cambric, intended
for yellow linings for bed or window curtains, be in a perfectly bleached
state, which is now generally the case, according to the number of the
pieces, so must the size of the copper be to boil the weld in for the
yellow dye. A small copper holding four or five pails would do for three
pieces of twenty eight yards each. The weld may be purchased by the half
bundle, the bundle, or the load. Half a bundle would be enough for the
above quantity of cotton, if a moderate yellow is wanted. The weld must
be increased or decreased according as the pattern approaches a straw, a
canary, a lemon, or towards a gold colour or orange.

The weld must be boiled about twenty minutes, the liquor then strained
off into a proper tub, and the weld boiled again. While the boilings are
going on, three tubs, being wine pipes cut in two, must be got ready and
made particularly clean, being also previously seasoned for the work. One
is to receive the boiled weld with some cold water to regulate it to the
heat which the hand will bear; the other is for water, and as much alum
liquor as will colour it and make it taste strong; and the third is to
contain clear water to wash the furniture off.

Whatever yellow is in _fashion_ (or indeed any fashionable colour,) has
commonly a _fashionable name_. But if the dyer can, by his experience,
proportion his drugs to the weakest, and from that to the strongest
shade, let the name be what it may, after he has a set of patterns of his
own dyeing, he will see, upon the first sight of any colour, how to set
about it.

In the present instance let the pattern be a moderately pale colour of
yellow; then put all the first boiling of the weld in the first tub, and
cool down as above directed. Two or three persons should then work the
pieces quick from end to end by the selvages, that they may be even, two
may do this; one of whom must be an expeditious hand to work them and
keep them even. When they have been edged over six or seven times, they
are to be folded out upon a board laid over the tub, and wrung as dry as
possible by two persons. When they are all out, they are passed in the
same manner through the tub of alum, and, after six or seven turns, they
are to be taken out of the alum liquor, wrung as before, and then washed
off.

By this time the second weld liquor will be boiled; some of the first
must be thrown away, and the second weld liquor added in its place. The
goods are then passed through as before, and wrung out; the alum liquor
being strengthened, they are passed through it, wrung out as before, and
then washed off: the water in the wash tub having been changed.

In some instances verdigris is used instead of alum; and in other cases
it is used in addition to the alum. For some shades old fustic is used
instead of weld, and sulphate of copper instead of verdigris.

The alum solution, and the sulphate of copper, and the verdigris, or
acetate of copper should be always ready. It is necessary to have a tub
for each, in size proportioned to the work to be done; but larger for the
alum than for the other two.

Sulphate of iron is also used in some dark greys, browns, slates, and in
all blacks; this will require a tub as large or larger than that for alum.

When the yellows are dyed and wrung as dry as possible, they should be
taken into a close room or stove to dry, particularly in _London_,
because of the smoke, especially in winter. A German, or other stove,
should be placed in the room, the size of which, as well as the number of
the stoves, must be regulated by the quantity of the work. When the goods
are dry they must be sent to the callenderers, if directed to be
callendered; but the general and better way is to stiffen them with
starch after they are dyed, and before they are dry; and when dry they
should be sent to the glazers, instead of the callenderers, except when
both branches are carried on by the same person.

When furniture, originally yellow, has become faded, it may be re-dyed
thus: In this case it should be dyed rather of a fuller shade than the
original. A large flat tub, such as described above, is to be filled
three parts full of water, to which sufficient sulphuric acid must be
added to make it taste strongly sour. After being well stirred, the
pieces are to be put in, and worked in this sour liquor; and the yellow
dye in consequence is stripped off. If the acid liquor be not strong
enough more acid must be added, with the precaution of well mixing it
with the water, and the goods must be passed through the liquor again: by
these means the yellow is discharged. They are then to be taken out on a
board upon the tub and wrung by two persons; then to be washed off and
wrung, washed and wrung again, when they are fit to be dyed.

It is still to be remembered that any faded or worn out colour, or that
goods more or less decayed, seldom become so bright as the colour which a
new piece of goods receives from the same dye.

Some cloths for re-dyeing require the application of oxymuriate or
chloride of lime to discharge their colours, particularly when madder or
galls, &c. form the constituent parts of the dye. In this case if a
_bleacher_ be near it might be best to let him perform the process with
the oxymuriate of lime; not only from the pernicious nature, but also
from the expense of it, which, unless the business be upon a large scale,
will not pay the dyer for his trouble.

However, if the dyer thinks proper to perform this operation, then the
oxymuriate of lime or bleacher's ashes, &c. may be obtained at the dry
salters and dissolved in a cask, and the clear liquor used in proportion
to the quantity of goods, the colour of which is intended to be
discharged, which, when done, should be washed off in two waters at least
before they are dyed.


_To dye cotton skein a_ DUCK'S WING GREEN _and_ OLIVE.

This is performed by a blue ground, next galling, dipping in the black
vat, then in the weld dye, then in verdigris, remembering to wash off
previously to performing each process.

_Olive_ is to be performed with weld or old fustic, verdigris, and Brazil
wood.


_Of_ BROWNS, MAROONS, COFFEE-COLOURS, _&c._

It would answer little purpose to enlarge this treatise with a detail of
all the possible methods of producing the various shades of these several
colours, the whole consisting in the use of galls, verdigris, sulphate of
copper, weld, and madder.

By welding a stuff previously maddered for _red_ you may produce a _gold_
colour; and by dipping the same red in a blue vat you obtain a _plum_
colour.


_Observations on_ SILK.

Silk, as it is obtained from the cocoons of the worm, is generally of an
orange or yellow colour, more or less dark; in the South of France it is
generally very dark: its natural shade is unfavourable to almost all
other colours. It is also imbued with a kind of varnish or gum, which
makes it stiff and hard; this stiffness is improper in the fabrication of
most silk stuff, it is therefore _ungummed_, as it is called, by the
following processes.


_On ungumming and boiling silk._

_Observe_, that throughout the following processes for silk _white_ soap
is directed to be used; and, generally speaking, we believe it will be
found the best, more especially for the more delicate operations. Yet
_Mr. M'Kernan_, in his process for ungumming silk, directs yellow soap
and soft soap in equal parts, and of the same weight as the silk to be
used: he adds, however, that different sorts of silk require more or less
soap; the best rule he finds, nevertheless, is _the same weight of soap
as of silk_: and he says also, that yellow soap and soft soap of the best
quality he finds the best for this purpose.

The silk is divided into hanks, each hank is tied with a string, several
of these are tied together (a handful of them) by putting a piece of
string through each separate skein, and tying the piece of string in a
long tie to slip easily when they are wanted to be untied.

A liquor is prepared of thirty pounds of _white_ soap to a hundred pounds
of silk; the soap is cut into small pieces and boiled in water, when it
is dissolved the fire is damped.

While the liquor is preparing the skeins of silk are put on rods; as soon
as the soap liquor becomes a little below boiling heat (for it should not
boil, as boiling would tangle the silk) the silk is to be put into it in
an oblong copper, being nearly full; it is to remain in the liquor till
its gummy matter has left it, which will be seen by its whiteness and
flexibility. It is then turned end for end on the rods, that the part
above the liquor may undergo the same operation. As soon as this is
accomplished the silk is taken out of the copper, the hanks which were
first turned being soonest done.

The hanks are now to be taken from the rods to the peg, disentangled, and
nine or ten of them put on one cord, this cord passing through the string
that tied each hank. When the whole is corded it is put into pockets of
coarse strong white linen fifteen inches wide and five feet long, closed
at each end and on one side; when the silk is put in, the pocket is sewed
all along the other side with packthread, and fastened with a knot; four
pockets will hold the whole hundred pounds.

The pockets being thus ready another liquor is prepared like the first.
When ready, and the boiling checked with cold water, the pockets are put
in and boiled well for a quarter of an hour, checking with cold water in
order to prevent its boiling over; it is necessary also to turn the bags
about often with a pole, or rather let two persons have a pole each for
this purpose. This operation is called boiling.

In addition to the processes of boiling with soap, as above directed,
_Mr. M'Kernan_ recommends that the silk should be winched through a
copper of water at the heat of 160°, having two pounds of soda (barilla)
dissolved in it, then winch or wash in water, and wring and dry.

In the boiling of silks for common colours twenty pounds of soap will do
for a hundred weight of silk; but, as in this case, the silk is not
ungummed, it should boil for three hours and a half, adding water to
supply the evaporation.

The silks intended for the greatest degree of white, either to remain
white, or for the fabrication of white stuff, are boiled twice in soap
and water; those that are to be dyed of different colours are boiled but
once, and with a smaller quantity of soap, because the little remaining
redness is by no means prejudicial to many colours. Different quantities
of soap are, however, necessary for different colours.

Silk designed for blue, iron grey, brimstone, or any other colour
requiring a very white ground, should be done according to the preceding
process, and have thirty pounds of soap.

When the silk is boiled it is taken out of the copper by two men with
poles, and placed in a clean barrow; they are then taken to a long
shallow trough, from which the water may run away, the pockets are
opened, and the silks examined; such as have yellow or lemon colour spots
remaining are boiled again for some time, till the spots are removed.
After unpocketing, the whole is dressed on the pegs.

Silk loses from twenty-five to twenty-eight per cent. of its weight in
ungumming and whitening. The bags of silk should never be suffered to lie
long together before they are emptied after being boiled, as their doing
so would make the silk hard.

_White_ silk, as before observed, is distinguished into five principal
shades, namely, _China white_, _India white_, _thread_ or _milk white_,
_silver white_, and _azure white_.

The three first are prepared and boiled as has already been shewn. Silver
and azure white in the preparation or ungumming thus: take fine powdered
indigo, put it into water boiling hot, when settled the liquor is called
_azure_.

_To azure the silk_ it is taken from the ungumming copper after it is
dressed and put into a trough of water; after it is worked, drained, and
again dressed, it is ready for the


_Whitening_.

Put into a copper with thirty pails of water half a pound of soap; when
it boils, and the soap dissolved, add for _China white_ a little
_prepared annatto_, (of which hereafter.) The silk, being on rods, is now
to be put into the copper and kept turning end for end without
intermission till the shade is uniform. For _India white_ a little azure
is added, to give the blue shade: for _thread white_ and others a little
azure is also to be added.

_Observe_, the liquor should be very hot, but not boiling; the turnings
five times repeated, by which the shade is made even. When finished it is
taken out, wrung, Spread on poles to dry, and that part of it required
for _sulphuring_ must be put upon rods or slight poles.


_Sulphuring._

The hanks, being upon poles seven or eight feet from the ground, in an
appropriate room, one pound and a half or two pounds of roll brimstone
will sulphur a hundred weight of silk.

Put the brimstone, coarsely powdered, into an earthen pipkin with a
little charcoal or small coal at bottom. Light one of the bits with a
candle, which will kindle all the rest.

The room should be close, the chimney, if any, being closed up; the
sulphur should burn under the silk all night. The next morning the
windows should be opened to let out the smoke and admit the air, which,
in summer, will be sufficient to dry the silk; but in winter, as soon as
the sulphurous fumes are dissipated, the windows must be shut and a fire
kindled in the stove or stoves to dry the silk.

_Observe_, if the room for sulphuring does not admit of openings
sufficient for the dissipation of the sulphuric fumes, the work-people
will be in danger of suffocation.

When the sulphur is consumed it leaves a black crust which will light the
future sulphur like spirit of wine.

If, in dressing, the silk sticks together, it is not sufficiently dry.

Silk, which has been sulphured, has a rustling, which, for some things,
is esteemed; but this would not do for silk to be watered. If silk, which
has been sulphured is to be dyed, it must, for many colours, be
unsulphured.

Silks for lace, gauze, &c. are neither boiled nor ungummed; silks which
are naturally the whitest are the best for those articles. It is
sufficient to dip the silks in warm water, and wring them; then sulphur
them, afterwards azure them, again wring them, sulphur them a second
time, or soak them in soap and water, those for whitening hot enough to
bear the hand, adding azure, if necessary, and turning and re-turning the
silk in this liquor.

The fine silk of _Nankin_ requires no whitening.


_On aluming silk._

We have treated of this before at the commencement of the third chapter,
but a few more observations may be useful.

The silk being first well washed and beetled, and the hanks tied loose so
that every thread may take alike, should be turned and re-turned in the
alum liquor and worked, cooled in it, at intervals, from morning till
night, afterwards taken out, beetled, and rinsed.

The above proportion of alum will do for a hundred and fifty pounds of
silk, before you need replenish it; when this is necessary add
twenty-five pounds more of alum, as at first directed in Chapter III.,
and so continue to replenish it till it gets a bad smell. When this is
the case you may dip for browns, maroons, &c. and afterwards throw the
liquor away; the trough is then to be rinsed for a fresh liquor.

Remember always to alum _cold_ or you will spoil the lustre of the silk.


_Skein silk for_ YELLOW.

This is to be boiled with about twenty pounds of soap for every hundred
pounds of silk. When boiled it is to be washed and alumed, and again
washed, dressed, and put on the rod, seven or eight ounces to a rod, and
then dipped and re-turned in the yellow liquor, in the proportion of two
pounds of weld to one pound of silk.

The liquor is not to be hotter than the hand can bear while the silk is
in it. The silk, when in the vessel for dyeing, should cause the liquor
to float within two inches of the edge. The silk must be taken out and
the liquor strengthened, if the pattern is to be very full; when full
enough, one pound of pearl-ash for every twenty pounds of silk must be
dissolved in some warm water; about a quarter of this liquor is put into
the dye bath: take the silk out while you put in the liquor, stir the
mixture well. Put in the silk and work it, turning and re-turning it as
at first. After seven or eight re-turns, one of the hanks is to be taken
out, wrung, and tried at the peg, and, if sufficiently full and bright,
all is well; if not enough so, some more pearl-ash liquor must be added,
and the silk worked as before, till the shade required is obtained.

For _jonquil_ it may be necessary to add some annatto when you put in the
pearl-ash.

To make the light shades, such as _canary_ or _lemon_, perfectly white,
they must be boiled with thirty pounds of soap to a hundred of silk; and
if these be not _azured_ to be dyed, they must have a little of the blue
vat, and a little of the weld liquor in water, (the whole mixture being
as hot, but no hotter than the hand will bear,) and the silk ready on
rods, must be quickly worked through and out. For deeper lemons the same
process must be used as for the fuller yellows; only less weld, and
twenty pounds of soap will do for a hundred pounds of silk in whitening
it.

The blue of the vat is only used for such articles as are to have a green
cast, and that extremely light; the aluming also should be in a weaker
alum liquor: for light lemons it should be prepared in a separate liquor.


_Preparation of annatto for_ AURORA, ORANGE, MOIDORE, GOLD COLOUR _and_
CHAMOIS.

You must have a colander proportioned to the size of the copper in which
you boil the annatto. To every pound of annatto put from twelve ounces to
one pound of pearl-ashes, which last dissolve in water, and add the
solution, by degrees, to the solution of annatto as it boils and
dissolves, for which purpose the annatto must be suspended in the
colander over the copper by a flat stick about six inches broad, run
through a flat handle on each side of the colander, by which means the
colander is kept sunk in the water with the annatto in it, till it is all
dissolved, except some little foreign matters. The holes in the colander
should be moderately small.

Dissolved in this manner the annatto, if kept clean, will keep as long as
you please.


_To dye silk_ AURORA _or_ ORANGE.

These require but twenty pounds of soap for boiling white. To dye
_aurora_ the silk must be prepared the same as for yellow.

Annatto _prepared_ (as directed in the last article) and settled, is then
put into a copper of hot water, in quantity according to the shade
required; having mixed it well, the liquor being as hot as the hand will
bear, put the silk into it; when one hank is tried, as in the yellow, if
it be not full enough, the liquor must be strengthened till the colour is
brought to the shade required. When finished the whole must be washed
twice and beetled. The _aurora_ serves as a ground for _moidore_.


_To dye_ MOIDORE.

As fustic and logwood are to form part of this dye upon the annatto
ground, the silk must be alumed, then washed from the alum, in order that
the superflux of the alum may not render the dye uneven. A fresh liquor
is then prepared, rather hot, to which must be added a little of the
decoction of logwood, and of the decoction of young fustic. The silk is
re-turned in this liquor, but if apparently too red, you may put in a
very little of solution of sulphate of iron, which will make it
sufficiently yellow.

When the silk is dyed with the gum, in the raw state, the annatto must be
used nearly cold, or the elasticity of the silk will be destroyed.


_Process for_ ORANGE.

After dyeing aurora with annatto, it is necessary to redden the annatto
ground with vinegar, alum or lemon juice.

For the brightest oranges, and up to scarlets and poppy, &c. silk should
have an annatto ground three or four shades under that of aurora. There
is no occasion for alum when the silk has been grounded and washed off.
If for _orange_ a liquor which has been used for poppy will be
sufficiently strong to finish it, or for light cherry, rose, &c. For
_flesh_, the lightest of these colours is so delicate that a little of
the soap water used for boiling should be added to the liquor, to prevent
the silk from taking the colour too quickly or unevenly.

Liquors having safflower or weld in their composition, require to be
immediately worked, as by keeping they lose their colour, that is, the
safflower and its compounds, and are entirely spoiled. They are also
always used _cold_, as the safflower cannot bear heat.

The _safflower_ preparation has been before described in Chapter II.
where the process of _cotton pink_ is performed by its solution.


_To dye silk_ POPPY, called by the French _coquelicot_.

When the silk has received the annatto ground three shades less than for
aurora, the safflower preparation must be ready, and turned by the
solution of tartar as before described; the silk must also be well washed
from the annatto ground; that the alkali used with the annatto may not
counteract the tartar of the safflower, a bath of which must be prepared
as strong as possible, through which the silk must be worked six or seven
times: for a full poppy it is necessary to pass the silk through four or
five such liquors. Poppy is the deepest colour which can be done with the
safflower. It has been before observed, that the liquors from the poppy,
if used directly, will serve for orange, cherry, flesh, &c.

Archil, as described for crimson, with cochineal for wools as before
described, is to be used on some occasions. In other cases some patterns
have no ground of annatto.


_A cheaper_ POPPY _with annatto and Brazil wood._

The silk is to be grounded with annatto as before; when well washed off
it must be alumed and washed off again; then passed through the decoction
of Brazil wood, washed off again, again passed through a fresh decoction
of Brazil wood; and every time that goods are passed through the dye, as
has been before stated, they must be worked from end to end of the
skeins, from five to seven times, to have them even, and to give them a
full opportunity of combining with the colouring materials of the dye.

These repetitions must of course be in number proportionate to the
slightness or intensity of the colour wanted. With the Brazil decoction
it is necessary to mix well a little soap liquor, about five quarts to
thirty pounds of silk. This keeps the alum used to receive the Brazil
decoction not only from producing a stiffness, but, on the contrary,
preserves the silk soft and pliant.

The above poppy serves for a ground for _brown red_ colours, by the
addition of logwood. A decoction of logwood, Brazil wood, and old fustic,
as has been before observed, should always be kept ready boiled.


_On dyeing silk a_ FINE CRIMSON.

Silk intended for the crimson of cochineal should have only twenty pounds
of soap to one hundred pounds of silk, and no azure, because the natural
yellow of the silk which remains is favourable to the intended colour.

The silk is to be strongly alumed and left in the alum from seven to
eight hours, then washed and twice beetled at the river. _Remember_ how
the alum is to be worked, as to the manual part.

While this is doing, a liquor is to be thus got ready: take of blue and
white galls from one to two ounces to each pound of silk, let them be
well powdered and sifted; of fine cochineal, also well powdered and
sifted, from two to three ounces, for every pound of silk; put these
articles into pure soft water, and in a _boiler made of grain-tin_, (and
not in what is commonly called tin, which is iron covered with tin, and
which would utterly spoil the dye.) Neither would copper or brass suit as
well as grain-tin. This has been observed before, (page 84.) in the
article _on dyeing wool scarlet_. It ought, nevertheless, to be stated,
that such tin boilers are difficult to be made of a certain size, and
being liable, besides, to be melted without great care. Many dyers
therefore, still use _copper_ boilers. When the cochineal and galls have
boiled you add to the liquor for every pound of cochineal, about one
ounce of solution of tin, which is called _composition_, and is made in
the following manner:


_Composition for dyeing silk_ SCARLET _or_ CRIMSON _with cochineal_.

Take one pound of nitric acid, two ounces of muriate of ammonia, six
ounces of fine tin, prepared as mentioned under _dyeing wool scarlet_,
water twelve ounces.

The muriate of ammonia, the prepared tin, and the water, are put into a
stone jar, to which the nitric acid, is added, and the whole left to
dissolve.

This composition contains much more tin and sal-ammoniac than is used for
the scarlet of cochineal upon wool; it is, however, absolutely necessary.

An ounce of this composition, for every pound of silk, is to be added to
the galls and cochineal when boiling. The boiler is then cooled down a
little, the fire-door thrown open, the silk put in and worked from five
to seven times, when the silk will have become pretty even as far as it
is dyed. The copper is now again to be brought to boil; it should
continue boiling, and the silk kept turning, for two hours; the fire is
then taken from under the copper, and the silk is immersed entirely and
left all night, or for seven or eight hours at least; it thus takes a
full half shade. In the morning it is washed, twice beetled, wrung as
usual, and hung up to dry.

The least tincture of sulphate of iron in the water saddens the crimsons,
takes off their yellow, and gives the violet cast; but if too much of the
yellow is carried off, it may be restored by fustic. Nothing but sulphate
of iron will sadden grain scarlets, logwood being quite useless for this
purpose; sulphate of iron darkens greatly with galls. _Macquer_.


_Another process for_ CRIMSON.

When the silk is boiling in the soap-liquor, add one ounce of annatto,
for every pound of silk, working it through the colander as directed,
(page 136.) but without the composition or tartar: in some shades,
however, both composition and tartar are admitted. The solution applied
to cochineal with worsted has a considerable effect, changing it from a
crimson, its natural colour, to a very bright fire colour; but it
produces only a crimson when applied to silk; it gives, however, this
colour a very beautiful tint; for, uniting with the tartar, it increases
the effect without impoverishing the colour, and saving the annatto
ground. _Macquer_.


CRIMSON _by Brazil wood_.

The silk should be first alumed, and then passed through a strong
decoction of Brazil wood, half a pail to a pound of silk, which is to be
worked, and put through an additional and strengthened dye of Brazil
wood, and then washed off: if in _hard_ water this will generally crimson
the Brazil wood sufficiently; but if in soft water a little pearl-ash
must be added; about one pound of the clear solution of pearl-ash, or
rather the clear solution of a pound of pearl-ash, as one pound of water
will not, we believe, dissolve a pound of pearl-ash: this is enough for
forty pounds of silk.

_The decoction of Brazil wood_ is prepared thus: one hundred and fifty
pounds of Brazil wood chips are put into a copper which holds about sixty
buckets of water; the copper is then filled with water and boiled for
three hours, the waste by evaporation being occasionally supplied. The
fire is now damped, the clear liquor drawn off, the copper filled again,
and again boiled for three hours more. This process is repeated four
times in all, when the dye of the wood will be fully extracted.

_Logwood_ and _old fustic_ are treated in the same manner, but only two
boilings are required for these.

In regard to crimson generally, see forward, _observations on dyeing silk
crimson and scarlet_, and also some _observations_ on the _dyeing of wool
scarlet_, page 85.


_Of fine_ VIOLET.

For this colour the common boiling is enough, the silk is alumed the same
as for fine scarlet, washed and twice beetled. Thus prepared, two ounces
of cochineal are given to it, with the same precaution as usual, but no
composition nor tartar. Being worked moderately warm, in working it must
be expeditiously turned; after a quarter of an hour the liquor should be
brought to boil, when the turning need not be so expeditious, but it
should, nevertheless, be continued for two hours. After being washed the
silk is dipped in the vat, more or less strong, according to the shade
required.

Washing and drying are done in the same manner as for blues and greens,
and in general for all colours _dipped_ in the vat, namely, a small
quantity at a time, in order that the silk may be kept open to the air,
and that the greening of the vat may pass correctly and equally to blue.
For some shades archil forms a part of this dye. For other _violets on
silk_ see Chapter III.


_Observations on_ CRIMSON _and_ SCARLET _upon silk_.

Crimson upon silk is produced at Norwich, London, and many other places,
by using a much larger quantity of cochineal than that which is directed
by Macquer: for in some cases, as much as a guinea a pound, has, it is
said, been paid for dyeing silk crimson at Norwich. Archil has been used,
likewise, in crimson, and the time of boiling is not so long. In some
shades a little of the composition and tartar may be admitted, but in a
small degree. It should be stated, however, that _scarlet upon silk_, is
often done by annatto and safflower.

_Observe_, that although we have given the preceding processes for
crimson and scarlet, yet many others might be mentioned. What has been
said in regard to _dyeing scarlet on woollen_, (page 85.) should also be
carefully attended to, particularly relative to the conversion of scarlet
into crimson by alum, soap, and the alkalies. And though we have given
directions for the preparation of a _nitro-muriate of tin_, yet pure


_Muriate of tin_

is now very often used for dyeing silk red. MR. M'KERNAN, gives us the
following process for preparing it:

Take of fine muriatic acid, of the specific gravity of 1.120, two quarts;
add by degrees, one ounce at a time, of feathered tin, for twenty-four
hours. Put the vessel in a sand heat and bring it gently to boil,
observing to add more tin as that in the acid becomes dissolved. There
should be some tin left undissolved when the liquor is cold, thus
indicating that the acid is perfectly neutralized by the tin. Bottle for
use.


_On dyeing silk_ GREEN.

This colour is composed of _blue_ and _yellow_. It is with difficulty
produced on silk, because the blue vat is liable to spot and give a party
colour, an inconvenience to which green is more liable than blue, and
more perceptible. The boiling of silk for greens is the same as for
common colours.

The silk being alumed as usual rather strongly, is washed off and divided
on the sticks into small hanks of about four or five ounces, that it may
be equally and easily managed in the working, from the yellow to green,
in the blueing from the blue vat.

Weld is then boiled as stated in the article concerning _yellow_; when
boiled, a liquor of it is prepared strong enough to give a lemon ground;
the silk is then turned with all the expedition, care, and caution
possible, that it may be even. When it appears full enough, some of the
threads are to be separated and dipped in the vat, to determine this. If
not full enough, more of the weld liquor must be added to the dye bath,
and the silk returned and tried again, and so on; when the colour is
right, the silk is washed off and beetled. It is then wrung and formed
into hanks, and dipped skein by skein in the blue vat, the same as the
blue and the purple should be; it must be wrung with equal care and
dispatch.

This green is a kind of _sea-green_, of which there are upwards of twenty
shades. The lighter shades, when taken out of the vat, are not washed but
the silk must be worked in the hands by clapping it between them, and
then be carefully opened and aired. A few threads are then washed, or
rinsed; if the colour be right the whole is washed.

For the dark shades, when the weld is exhausted a little logwood is added
to the liquor; in some cases, old fustic, in some annatto.

For _very dark-wing_ or _bottle-green_ shades, a little sulphate of iron
is required.


OLIVES.

Proceed in aluming, &c. the same as for other colours; the weld liquor
being stronger, some logwood must be added. When the weld and logwood are
exhausted a very small quantity of each must be added, which green the
liquor, when the silk being passed through, a _greenish olive_ is
produced.

A _reddish olive_ requires fustic, instead of logwood and pearl-ash, both
of these being omitted.

Fustic gives a colour commonly called _drab-olive_ upon cloth, because
generally made to match with olive, this is commonly redder than the
preceding.


_On dyeing silk_ GREY.

All the _greys_, namely, _nut-greys_, _thorn-greys_, _black_ and
_iron-greys_, and others of the same hue, black-grey excepted, are
produced without aluming. The silk being washed from the soap and drained
on the peg, a liquor is made of fustic, archil, logwood and sulphate of
iron: fustic gives the ground, archil the red, logwood darkens, and the
sulphate of iron softens all these colours, turns them grey, and, at the
same time, serves instead of alum as a mordant.

As there is an infinite variety of greys, without any positive names,
produced by the same methods, it would be endless to enter into details,
which would prolong this treatise to little purpose.

For _reddish-grey_ the archil should predominate; for those more grey,
the logwood; and for those rather greenish, the fustic.

Care should be taken not to use the logwood too much, as with the
sulphate of iron it darkens more than most drugs: therefore the black
vat, made either with alder-bark, or the other preparation mentioned in
dyeing cotton, is preferable to the sulphate of iron.


NUT-GREY.

The fustic decoction, archil, and a little logwood are put into water
moderately hot, the silk is then returned, and when the liquor is
exhausted, the silk is taken out, and to soften the colour the solution
of sulphate of iron, or the black vat, is used. The silk is then returned
once more, and if the colour does not appear sufficiently even, some red
spots still remaining, it may be concluded that it requires a little more
sulphate of iron.

_Observe_ that, as sulphate of iron is the general base of all greys, if
this be deficient in quantity, the colour is apt to change in dyeing, and
to become rough and uneven.

To know whether the colour be sufficiently softened, it should be
examined, and if it wet easily, after having been wrung on the peg, it
wants sulphate of iron. On the contrary, if it wets with a little
difficulty, the colour is sufficiently softened.

Too much sulphate of iron stiffens the silk considerably, making it
harsh, and even depriving it of a part of its lustre; to remedy this it
must be extra washed and wrung at the peg; this process carries off the
sulphate of iron.


BLACK-GREYS.

These are alumed and welded as for yellow, and, when the liquor is
exhausted, part of it is thrown away, and some logwood is added; when the
logwood is exhausted, sulphate of iron is added, sufficient to blacken
the colour, the silk is then washed, wrung, and finished in the usual way.


IRON-GREY.

For iron-grey it is necessary to boil the same as for blues: this colour
is much more beautiful when laid on a very white ground.

By having the drugs made into decoctions before-hand, greys either in
woollen, silk, or cotton, may be dyed at a heat not much above what the
hand will bear; and in a rotation of shades from light to dark, and
varied, blue, red, yellow, brown, &c. with ease and with pleasure; so
may, likewise, many stone-drabs, and other light brown drabs, as the
mixture of yellow, fawn, and black, produces nut-browns, &c.


_On dyeing silk of a_ PRUSSIAN-BLUE COLOUR.

The application of colours derived from the mineral kingdom to dyeing is
one of the most striking modern improvements in our art. MR. RAYMOND
received from the French government in 1801, eight thousand francs, (more
than three hundred pounds sterling,) as a reward for communicating to the
public his process for dyeing silk of a uniform fast and bright
_Prussian-blue colour_ by the application of that well known pigment. His
process is as follows.

He first converts, by a gentle calcination, sulphate of iron into a red
sulphate of iron: this he dissolves in sixteen times its weight of warm
water and filters. The silk, prepared as for indigo dye, is put into the
solution of iron, and left there for a shorter or longer time, according
to the shade of blue that is wanted; it is then taken out and wrung very
dry over a pole placed above the vat. It is then thoroughly cleansed by
being twice beetled, plunging and agitating it each time in running
water. Dissolve in pure water heated to 167°, and put into a deal vat,
one ounce of _ferroprussiate_ of _potash_, for every twelve ounces of
silk to be dyed. When the prussiate is dissolved add one part, or even
rather more, of muriatic acid, stirring the mixture well. When the liquor
has acquired a greenish colour, and about 144° of heat, the silk must be
immediately plunged into it and stirred about for some minutes. The silk
having received the dye in an equal manner, it is taken out of the vat,
well wrung on a pole above the vat, and then taken to the stream to
receive two or three beetlings, and be plunged and agitated in the water,
in order that it may be entirely freed from any portion of the prussiate
of iron not truly combined with it.

Lastly, the silk being well washed in the stream, and thoroughly wrung,
is to be placed loosely on the poles, as in the preceding operations;
after which it must be well agitated in a large vessel three-fourths
filled with cold water, to which must be added, for a hundred pounds of
silk, two pounds of water of ammonia. The blue colour immediately becomes
many shades deeper, of a much richer and brighter tint, and at the same
time is fixed more perfectly in the silks. This change is effected in a
few minutes. The silk must then be wrung by the hand and rinsed in the
running water without beating. After this, it is dried on the poles in
the same manner as other dyed silks. It need not be left on the poles
more than twenty-four hours: but, nevertheless, this colour so far from
fading in the drying, as is the case with many colours, is improved by it.

The solution of a little soap added cold to the ammonia bath, improves
it, giving also softness to the silk, and rendering it more easy to
separate. The soap should be uniformly dissolved.

For the substance of the above process, we are indebted to Dr. URE'S
_notes on Berthollet_, vol. ii. p. 422. The _prussiate of potash_ is now
to be obtained as a regular article of trade from the dry-salters in this
country.

_Woollen cloth_ takes also the above dye, but it must be left longer than
silk in the iron mordant.


_Chromate of lead for_ YELLOW _on_ SILK _and_ COTTON.

_Chromate of lead_, as a pigment has been for some time in use; _M.
Lassaigne_, in 1820, made public a process for dyeing cloth with this
article, which has since become pretty common in this country.

Immerse hanks of scoured silk for a quarter of an hour in a weak solution
of _acetate of lead_ at the ordinary temperature; take them out and wash
them in a great deal of water: then dip them into a weak solution of
_chromate of potash_. They immediately take a fine yellow colour; at the
end of ten minutes the effect is complete. From this colour being
decomposed in part by soap and water, it is chiefly applicable to silks.
But by applying, however, a mordant of acetate or nitrate of lead, and
passing the goods through bichromate of potash, a very beautiful and
sufficiently fast yellow is now given to _cotton goods_ in this country.


_Conclusion._

We cannot conclude our work without observing, that from the researches
continually going on in _botany_ and other branches of natural history,
and, more especially, from those in _chemistry_, there can be no doubt
that discoveries, which will materially improve the art of dyeing, must,
from time to time, be made. Some of these, not yet generally known, in
the hands of a few persons, have already been found useful; but
individual interest is, of course, a great enemy to their being made
public. Others, although public, are, as yet, of too doubtful a utility
to be noticed here.

If we have not given forms for the employment of some articles in use by
certain dyers, such as _kermes_ for _reds_; _French Berries, (rhamnus
infectorius,)_ the _Canada golden rod (solidago Canadensis,)_ the
_Barberry (Berberis vulgaris,)_ and the _French marygold, (Tagetes
patula,)_ for _yellows_, &c. &c. it is not to be concluded that such are
not good in their kind, and might not be used occasionally with
advantage. But as our object has been to give the _best_ methods of
dyeing the various colours, it would be impossible to notice many others
in a manual of this kind, and in the limits within which we are
necessarily confined. To mention those substances recently introduced
into dyeing, the utility of which is not confirmed by extensive practice,
would be injudicious, and tend to lead the young dyer astray; those,
however, who have leisure and inclination, and are, besides, able to run
the risk of the failure of new processes, may, and no doubt will, make
experiments with them by which our art must be eventually served and
improved.




INDEX.


 Acetate of alumina, 8, 36
   copper, 16
   lead, 17

 Acid, the acetic, 33
   carbonic, 32
   Gallic, 10
   muriatic, 12
   nitric, ib.
   nitro-muriatic, 13
   pyrolignous, 33
   sulphuric, 15
   Tartaric, 33

 Acids, what, 31

 Adjective colours, 27

 Adrianople red, 117

 Albumen, 24

 Alcohol, what, and how obtained, 25

 Alkali, volatile, 23, 30

 Alkalies, the fixed, 14, 30

 Alum, common, 7
   roche, ib.

 Alumina, ib.
   acetate of, 8

 American bark, 15

 Ammonia, 23
   carbonate of, ib.

 Animal substances, analysis of, 18
   oil, 24

 Annatto, preparation of, 136

 Aqua fortis, 13
   regia, ib.

 Archil, 8

 Argol, ib.

 Aurora, to dye silk, 137

 Azotic gas, 29


 Bancroft's dyeing, 4

 Bancroft's murio-sulphate of tin, 101

 Barilla, 15

 Bastard saffron, ib.

 Berthollet's dyeing, 4

 Bile, 10

 Black on silk, 106, 107, 108
   to dye, on cotton, Rouen process, 108
   London process, ib.

 Black, to dye, on cotton velvets at Manchester, 110
   silk and cotton with a blue ground, 112
   another for cotton, 114
   on wool, 90, 93

 Bleaching, 37

 Blood used in dyeing, 119
   its constituents, 24

 Blue, 111
   to dye, on cotton, 47
   silk, 64
   wool, 73, 80
   linen and cotton, 57
   chemic, 47
   copperas or vitriol, 10

 Bran, 9

 Brimstone, 15

 Brown, to dye wool, 97
   cotton, 128

 Buff, to dye cotton a fast, 58
   wool, 101


 Calcination, 28

 Calico printers' mordant, 36

 Carbon, or charcoal, 28

 Carbonic acid, 32

 Carbonate of ammonia, 23
   potash, 14
   soda, 31

 Carthamus, 15

 Cerulin, 11

 Chemic blue, 47
   green, 52

 Chemical terms, 45

 Chemistry, leading facts in, 26

 Chlorine, 9, 13

 Chloride of lime, 38

 Cochineal, 9

 Colours, on fast and fugitive, 39
   for dyeing, 6
   Sir I. Newton's primary, 18
   to prove, 41

 Composition for dyeing silk scarlet, 141

 Combustion, 28

 Copper, 10

 Copper, acetate of, 10
   sulphate of, ib.

 Coquelicot, to dye silk, 138

 Cotton, on dyeing, 47, 104, 123
   to dye chemic or Saxon blue, 47
   black, 108, 110, 114
   green, 52
   a fast green, 56
   buff, 58
   green with indigo and weld, 56
   pink, 60
   violet, 115
   duck's-wing green or olive, 128
   brown, maroon, &c., ib.
   red, 116, 117
   yellow by chromate of lead, 151
   skein, to dye, yellow, 124
   furniture, to dye, yellow, ib.
   the same to re-dye, 127

 Cream of Tartar, 9

 Crimson, to dye, by archil on wool, 80
   lac dye on wool, ib.
   worsted yarn, 81
   on silk, 140

 Cudbear, 8


 Decoction, what, 53

 Distilled verdigris, 17

 Drugs used in dyeing, 7

 Dye-houses, 42

 Dyer, the trade of a, 1

 Dyers of Adrianople red, 2
   black, 3
   grain, 1
   silk, skein, 3
   rag, ib.
   woad, 2
   woollen, 1
   worsted yarn, 3
   weed, 17


 Fawn, to dye wool, 88

 Feathered tin, 83

 Fermentation, the vinous, 25
   acetous, ib.

 Fermentation, the putrid, 25

 Fibrin, 24


 Gall of animals, 10

 Galls, ib.

 Gallic acid, ib.

 Gas, what, 31

 Gelatine, 24

 Gold colour, to dye wool, 90

 Green, to dye the chemic, on cotton, 52
   cotton a fast, 56
   wool, 89
   woollen, ib.
   cotton duck's-wing, 128
   silk, 145
   vitriol, or copperas, 12

 Grey, to dye wool, 96
   on silk, 147


 Hematin, 96

 Hydrogen, 29
   carburetted, 32
   sulphuretted, 33


 Indigo, 10
   prepared, 75
   sulphate of, 11, 51
   neutralization of, 52

 Indigo, solution of, for penciling muslin, 57
   vats, 54, 102

 Inflammable air, 29

 Iron, 12
   acetate, ib.
   liquor, 112
   muriate, 12
   oxide, ib.
   sulphate, ib.

 Iron-moulds, 34


 Jennings's Cyclopædia, 4


 Lac dye, 12

 Lake, ib.
   how used for scarlet, 80

 Light, decomposition of, 18

 Lime, 23

 Linen, to dye, scarlet, 122
   blue, 57

 Litmus, or lacmus, 8

 Lilac, to dye silk, 68
   muslin, ib.

 Logwood, 96


 M'Kernan on dyeing silk, 4

 Maroon, to dye wool, 85
   cotton, 128

 Moidore, to dye silk, 137

 Mordant, what, 27
   the calico printers', for yellow and red, 36

 Muriate of soda, 12
   tin, 144

 Murio-sulphate of tin, 101

 Muriatic acid, 12
   gas, 14

 Muslin, to dye, lilac, 68


 Nitre, 12

 Nitric acid, ib.

 Nitro-muriatic acid, 13

 Nitrogen, 23
   gas, 29


 Oil of vitriol, 15

 Orange, to dye wool, 90
   silk, 137

 Orpiment, 13

 Oxides, what, 14

 Oxidation, 28

 Oxygen, ib.

 Oxymuriatic acid, 13

 Oxymuriate of lime, 38


 Pastel, 17
   vat, 73

 Peach, to dye wool, 101

 Pearl-ash, 14

 Phenicin, 11

 Pink, to dye cotton, 60

 Poppy, to dye silk, 138

 Potash, 14

 Potassium, 29

 Prickly pear, 9

 Proximate constituents of animals, 23
   vegetables, 21

 Purple, to dye silk, 67
   wool, 88

 Pyrolignous acid, 33


 Quercitron bark, 15


 Realgar, 13

 Red, to dye cotton, 116

 Red, to dye cotton, Adrianople or Turkey, 117


 Safflower, 15

 Salt, common, 12

 Saddening, what, 111

 Scarlet, to dye, with lac dye, 80
   silk, 141
   wool, 82
   on linen, 122

 Silk, on dyeing, 62, 105, 123
   ungumming and boiling, 129
   whitening, 132
   aluming, 63, 134
   to dye blue, 64, 67
     violet, royal purple, &c., 67
     lilac, 68
     another process for the same, ib.
     violet and purple, ib.
     another process for the same, 69
     another process for the same, ib.
     purple, ib.
     aurora, orange, and moidore gold colour and chamois, 136
     black, 105, 106, 107, 112
     orange or aurora, 137
     moidore, ib.
     orange, 138
     poppy or coquelicot, ib.
     a cheap poppy, 139
     a fine crimson or scarlet, 140
     another process for the same, 142
     a fine violet, 143
     green, 145
     olive, 146
     grey, 147
     with Prussian blue, 149
     yellow, by chromate of lead, 151

 Silk skein, to dye, yellow, 135

 Soap, 31

 Soda, 15

 Sodium, 30

 Spirit of salts, 12
   wine, 25

 Spirit of hartshorn, 24

 Substantive colours, 27

 Sulphate of alum and potash, 7
   copper, 10
   indigo, 51
     to neutralize, 52
   iron, 12

 Sulphur, 15, 32

 Sulphuret of arsenic, 13

 Sulphuric acid, 15

 Sumach, 16


 Tannin, 10

 Tar-iron liquor, 114

 Tartar, 8

 Tin, 16
   muriate of, 144
   murio-sulphate of, 101
   nitro-muriate of, 83

 Turkey red, 117

 Turmeric, 16


 Ultimate constituents of animals, 23
   vegetables, 21

 Ure's Berthollet, 4
   Chemical Dictionary, 4

 Utensils, on the, used in dyeing, 43


 Vat, the blue indigo, for silk, 64
   another for the same, 67
   cold indigo, for cotton, 54
     blue, for linen and cotton, 57
   indigo, for worsted and serge, 102

 Vegetable substances, analysis of, 18

 Verdigris, common, 16
   distilled, ib.

 Violet, to dye cotton, 115
   a fine, on silk, 143


 Water proper for dyeing, 42

 Weld, 17, 41
   to dye cotton green with, and indigo, 56
     wool green with, and woad, 89

 White, the numerous shades of, in silk, 132

 Whitening silk, process for, ib.

 Woad, 17
   vat, rules to judge of, 75
     how to work, 77
     errors in, how to remove, 76
     on the putrefaction of the, 78

 Wool, on scouring and dyeing, 70
   the action of tartar and alum on, 72
   to dye, orange, gold colour, &c., 90
     black, 90, 93, 94
     blue, by the woad vat, 73
     blue, several methods, 80, 89
     scarlet and crimson, 80, 81, 82
     maroon, 85
     yellow, 87, 99
     brown and fawn colour, 88
     purple, ib.
     green, 89
     black, 90
     another process, 93
     greys, 96
     brown, fawn, and many other colours, 97

 Wool, to dye, buff, 101
   peach, ib.

 Woollen, a chemic vat for green, 89
   blue, ib.

 Worsted yarn, to dye, a crimson, 81
   and serge, indigo vat for, 102


 Yellow from Quercitron bark, 98
   chromate of lead, 151
   weld, 87, 125
   on, wool, 87
   cotton, 124, 151
   silk, 135, 151


THE END.


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