[9] PEESERVATION OF NETS AND SAILS. 303 



self indicate that they have not been derived from any modern dj e- 

 house. It seems far more probable that the tanning process might 

 have originated in a primitive state of society, where the oil mordant 

 may have been used familiarly, not only for red but for various other 

 colors. It is in evidence that, though comparatively rarely used by the 

 Western nations for fixing other colors than red, the oil mordant is per- 

 fectly competent to be used with a variety of other dyes besides madder 

 and its cougeners. Laugier^ has dwelt upon the general applicability 

 of the process for dyeing hemp, flax, and cotton. He finds it particu- 

 larly applicable for yellows, for instance, as well as for reds. Beautiful 

 shades of purple have been fixed upon cotton cloth by first mordanting 

 with oil, as in the Turkey-red process, and then dyeing with aniline 

 purple.^ Indeed, the ordinary operation of "galling," employed inci- 

 dentally in Turkey-red dyeing to strengthen and modify the red color, 

 would be practically a dyeing of the cloth tan-color if it were pushed far 

 enough. It is manifestly closely analogous to the dyeing of sails as de- 

 scribed to me by the New Brunswick fisherman. It is known that under 

 the influence of weak alkalies and dampness, galled cloth may absorb 

 oxygen from the air and take on a brown color which is highlj' unde- 

 sirable from the point of view of the Turkey-red dyers. ChaptaP stated 

 the matter many years since : " The astringent principle of the nut-galls 

 unites with the oil and forms a compound which darkens on drying and 

 is but slightly soluble in water." " It is better to choose a dry time for the 

 process of galling, because damp air blackens the astringent principle. 

 After having been galled, the cotton cloth should be dried promptly, 

 in order to avoid the blackening which would injure the brightness of 

 the red the dyer wishes to obtain." Lewis ^ long ago tried experiments 

 on fixing blacks by means of an oil mordant, using soft soap and follow- 

 ing Mazeas's directions. He appears to have obtained a tolerably good 

 fixation, though his colors were not handsome. The oil mordant was 

 formerly sometimes used also for preparing a color known as "Swiss 

 pink." 



In some localities fishermen preserve their nets and sails by the com- 

 bined use of bark (or catechu), tar, and oil (or grease), and the process 

 has specially interested me as possibly having some bearing upon the 

 (juestiou of an oil mordant just now discussed. Thus, in the Encyclo- 

 paedia Britannica, article Fisheries, p. 248 (of the edition of 1870), it is 

 stated that "barking" the sails is a regular practice with the trawlers, 

 as it is with most other fishermen in England and Scotland. The pro- 

 cess consists in mopping them over with a composition of a solution of 



' Dingler's PolytecbDisclies Journal, 4'y, 278. 



^Watt's Dictionary of Chemistry, 2, 357; Eeports by the Juries: International Ex- 

 hibition of 1862, Class XXIII, p. 3. It is to be hoj)ed that the yachtsman who may 

 set topsails of this superb color and strive to carry them to the forefront will gain a 

 more worthy renown than did his prototype at Actium. 



3 Memoires de I'lnstitut (An. VII), 2, 291, 292. 



*In bis "Philosophical Commerce of the Arts," London, 1763, 2, 431. 



