200 Britain's Heritage of Science 



investigation in the private laboratory he had established at 

 home. Following the deceptive guidance of the accepted 

 doctrine, he tried to synthesize quinine by treating one of the 

 coal-tar products with bichromate of potassium, but only 

 obtained a dirty reddish-brown precipitate. Maxwell once 

 said that he never stopped a man from carrying out an 

 unpromising research, because, though he would almost 

 certainly not find what he expected, he might find some- 

 thing else. Perkin had found something else, and showed 

 the proper researching instinct by accepting the hint. 

 Replacing the more complicated compound which he had 

 used by another coal-tar product, " aniline," he obtained 

 an almost black precipitate, which, on further examination, 

 proved to have dyeing properties. This led to the discovery 

 of aniline purple, later called " mauve," the first of the arti- 

 ficial colours. Perkin saw the possibility of a useful application 

 before him, and sent a sample of the dye to Messrs. Puller, 

 of Perth, who, recognizing its value, replied : "If your 

 discovery does not make the process too expensive, it is 

 decidedly one of the most valuable that has come out for a 

 long time." 



Perkin resigned his position at the Royal College, and 

 with the assistance of his father built a factory at Greenford 

 Green, near Sudbury. To supply the dye cheaply, an econo- 

 mical method of preparing aniline had to be worked out. 

 This was first accomplished by the French chemist Bechamp, 

 whose share in the work was always fully recognized by 

 Perkin. The new dye-stuff was brought into the market 

 towards the end of 1857, and the demand for it increased 

 rapidly. 



The aniline dyes are products which do not occur in nature. 

 A fresh departure was made in 1868, when Graebe and Lieber- 

 mann succeeded in the artificial formation of alizarin, the 

 dyeing principle of the madder plant. The method used was, 

 however, too costly to hold out any hope of competing 

 successfully with the product derived directly from the 

 plant, which was grown extensively in the south of France. 

 Within a year Perkin invented another process that promised 

 and attained commercial success. In the meantime, Graebe 

 and Liebermann had independently been led to the same 



