CALICO-PRINTING 



633 



which steam is admitted in the ordinary way. It is double cased in the lower part, 



the lining being made of copper, and the outer shell of cast-iron. 



Fig. 380 shows a section of 

 this beck. A, cist-iron outer 

 casing of dye-beck, bolted 

 together in two parts ; B, 

 copper lining of beck ; c, 

 steam space, in the bottom 

 half of beck only ; D, wince, 

 making 42 revolutions per 

 minute ; E, driving pulley ; 

 F, peg rail ; o, cloth being 

 dyed ; H, water-valve and 

 pipes ; i, steam-valve ; K, 

 steam-pipes, supplying the 

 steam space at intervals along 

 the body of beck ; L, let-off 

 plug and seating ; M, silk for 

 carrying beck. 



Chintz work is dyed with 

 from 1 Ib. to 5 Ibs. madder 

 per piece of 30 yards, accord- 

 ing to the pattern ; generally, 

 a little chalk is added, and 

 if there is no purple in the 

 pattern, some sumac, which 

 is found to economise madder, 

 but will not do where there is 

 purple, the shade of which it 

 deadens. 



The extensive use in topical 

 printing of madder extract, 

 which is the colouring matter 

 of madder in a nearly pure 

 state, led Messrs. A. Duncan 

 and Co., of Manchester, to 

 experiment on dyeing pieces 

 by running them stitched to- 

 gether, and extended to the 

 full width through a series 

 of cisterns similar to the ' fly- 

 dung' cisterns, charged with 

 a pure extract of madder and 

 boiling water. The theory 

 was that if the madder ex- 

 tract were kept in large 

 excess of the requirements of 

 the pieces, and the cisterns 

 kept boiling, the mordants 

 would become saturated with 

 colouring matter in a very 

 short time. Their experi- 

 ments resulted in a patent 

 taken out in 1871; and although 

 it can scarcely at the present 

 time be said that the trade is 

 satisfied as to the economy of 

 the process, very excellent 

 results have been arrived 

 at by some printers, and the 

 process would appear one of 

 great promise. Well-dyed 

 pieces both of light and full 

 shades have been obtained 

 in from 3 to 5 minutes, being 

 the time required for a given 



point in a piece to travel from the entering end to the issuing end of the apparatus. 



