652 PRINTING INK 



process are given in the square 16mo. editions of Moore's ' Melodies' and Macaulay's 

 ' Lays of Ancient Rome,' published by Messrs. Longman & Co. 



This patent offers the same facilities to a vast number of the manufactures of the 

 country, such as the lace trade, cotton printers, damask and moreen houses, potteries, 

 piper-hangings ; in fact, to all or every one who employ art or design in their calling. 

 It will be well to observe that the size can not only be enlarged or diminished, as tfie 

 case may be, but the pattern can be altered in form ; thus a circular design can be 

 made into an oval, if required. Mr. Collins, by his second patent, is enabled, after 

 these impressions are once upon the stone, to make them into electro-blocks, thus 

 reducing also the cost of printing engraved plates, which is effected in the follow- 

 ing manner : The impression being placed on the lithographic-stone or the zinc- 

 plate either one or the other can bo employed acid is applied to abrase to a 

 certain extent the stone or metal over the unprotected portions ; when this is 

 sufficiently deep a mould is taken in wax, the surface of which being prepared is 

 subjected to the electrotype process, and thus a copper-block is obtained. See 

 PHOTOZINCOGRAPHY. 



PRINTING IlffE. (Encre d'impnmeric, Fr. ; Buchdruckerfarbe, Ger.) After 

 reviewing the different prescriptions given by Moxon, Breton, Papillon, Lewis, those 

 in Nicholson's and the Messrs. Aikins' Dictionaries, in Rees's Cyclopaedia, and in the 

 French Printer's Manual, Mr. Savage ' says, that the Encyclopaedia Britannica is the 

 only work, to his knowledge, which has given a recipe by which a printing ink might 

 be made that could be used, though it would be of inferior quality, as acknowledged 

 by the editor : for it specifies neither the qualities of the materials, nor their due pro- 

 portions. The fine black ink made by Mr. Savage has, he informs us, been pronounced 

 by some of our first printers to be unrivalled, and has procured for him the large 

 medal from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. 



1. Linseed-oil. Mr. Savage says that the linseed-oil, however long boiled, unless set 

 fire to, cannot be brought into a proper state for forming printing ink ; and that the 

 flame may be most readily extinguished by the application of a pretty tight tin cover 

 to the top of the boiler, which should never be more than half full. The French 

 prefer nut-oil to linseed ; but if the latter be old, it is fully as good, and much cheaper, 

 in this country at least. 



2. Black rosin is an important article in the composition of good ink ; as by melting 

 it in the oil, when that ingredient is sufficiently boiled and burnt, the two combine, 

 and form a compound approximating to a natural balsam, like that of Canada. 



3. Soap. This is a most important ingredient in printer's ink, which is not even 

 mentioned in any of the recipes prior to that in the Encyclopedia Britannica. For 

 want of soap, ink accumulates upon the face of the types, so as completely to clog 

 them up after comparatively few impressions have been taken ; it will not wash off 

 without alkaline lyes, and it skins over very soon in the pot. Yellow rosin-soap is 

 the best for black inks ; for those of light and delicate shades, white curd-soap is pre- 

 ferable. Too much soap is apt to render the impression irregular, and to prevent the 

 ink from drying quickly. The proper proportion has been hit when the ink works 

 clean, without clogging the surface of the types. 



4. Lamp-Hack. The vegetable lamp-black sold in firkins takes by far the most 

 varnish, and answers for making the best ink. See BLACK. 



5. Ivory-black is too heavy to be used alone as a pigment for printing ink ; but it 

 may be added with advantage by grinding a little of it upon a muller with the lamp- 

 black, for certain purposes ; for instance, if an engraving on wood is required to be 

 printed so as to produce the best possible effect. See IVORY-BLACK. 



6. Indigo alone, or with an equal weight of Prussian blue, added in small propor- 

 tion, takes off the brown tone of certain lamp-black inks. Mr. Savage recommends 

 a little Indian red to be ground in with the indigo and Prussian blue, to give a rich 

 tone to the black ink. 



7. Balsam of copaiba, mixed, by a stone and a muller with a due proportion of soap 

 and pigment, forms an extemporaneous ink, which the printer may employ very 

 advantageously when he wishes to execute a job in n peculiarly neat manner. 



After the smoke begins to rise from the boiling oil, a bit of burning paper stuck in 

 the cleft end of a long stick should be applied to the surface, to set it on fire, as soon 

 as the vapour will burn ; and the flame should bo allowed to continue (the pot being 

 meanwhile removed from over the fire, or tho firo taken from under the pot) till a 

 sample of the varnish, cooled upon a pallet-knife, draws out the strings of about half 

 an inch long between the fingers. To 6 quarts of linseed-oil thus treated, 6 pounds 

 of rosin should be gradually added, as soon as tho froth of the' ebullition has 

 subsided. Whenever the rosin is dissolved, one pound and three quarters of dry 



1 In hia work on the Preparation of Printing Ink ; 8vo., London, 1832. 



