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CALICO PRINTING. 



dyeing certain portions of cloth of one colour, and ano- 

 ther part of another; on which account it is some- 

 times called topical dyeing. The patterns may be 

 coinmunicateil to the cloth in various ways, either 

 by wooden blocks, on which the figures are cut, or 

 by copper-plates or cylinders, on which they are en- 

 graved. The first were originally employed, but 

 are now only used for the coarse work, and the two 

 hitter for work of a finer description. As wooden pat- 

 terns are liable to break, and wear rapidly, it has 

 been common, of late years, to form the figures of 

 copper, and attach them to the block. These blocks 

 are of various dimensions, according to the nature of 

 the work, and sometimes two or three are necessary 

 to one pattern where several colours are employed. 

 A set of blocks for one pattern are all formed at first, 

 precisely similar, and then they are cut in such a 

 manner that those parts only shall remain of the pat- 

 terns of each block which are necessary to transfer 

 the colour it is intended to give to the cloth, each 

 block being furnished with points at the corners, in 

 order to guide the workmen in laying it accurately 

 on the doth. In using the blocks, the cloth is 

 stretched over a long table covered with woollen 

 cloth, and commonly furnished with rollers, in or- 

 der that the web may be more easily shifted as the 

 work advances. Wooden cylinders are formed with 

 relief patterns, similar to those on the block, and are 

 driven by machinery ; they are employed for particu- 

 lar kinds of light goods, where expedition and clean- 

 liness are required, and are called surface-printing ma- 

 chines. The mechanical department of this species 

 of printing of calicoes is the same in principle as that 

 of common letter-press as that which we are about 

 Ui describe resembles the printing of copper-plate 

 engravings. The ordinary method of printing pock- 

 et-handkerchiefs is by the employment of a flat cop- 

 per-plate, on which the pattern of the handkerchief 

 is engraved. The colour is laid on the plate, and the 

 superfluous part scraped away by a steel knife, when 

 it is put in under the cloth into the press, and is clean- 

 ed by a thin steel plate, and, passing through a press 

 similar in principle to that of the copper-plate print- 

 ter, the impression is left. Where there are several 

 colours to be given to the handkerchief, several plates 

 must be employed on a plan similar to that before 

 described in printing with the block. But by far the 

 most ingenious and expeditious method of printing is 

 that by means of copper cylinders, which vary in 

 length from a foot and a half to four feet, and in dia- 

 meter from 3 to 5 inches. These cylinders are 

 sometimes formed by a thick plate of the metal, bent 

 to the required form, and soldered; but they are 

 best formed by turning a solid piece to the requisite 

 dimensions, and boring out the interior, after the me- 

 thod employed for steam-engine cylinders. The 

 figures are engraven on the surface of the cylinder by 

 the tools usually employed for copper-plates. Of late, 

 however, it has been common to engrave the pattern 

 on a cylinder of steel, precisely in the same way as 

 the pattern is to appear on the copper. This steel 

 cylinder is then tempered to great hardness, and, by 

 means of machinery, pressed against another cylinder 

 of soft steel, on which the pattern is made to appear 

 in relief. This last cylinder is then hardened, and, 

 being pressed against the copper cylinder, the figures 

 are indented, and it is fit for use. The copper cylin- 

 der is mounted on a machine so contrived that the 

 cylinder, as it revolves, is fed with colour from a 

 trough above it, and the superfluous colour is taken 

 off the surface by means of a sharp-edged knife, call- 

 ed the doctor ; after which, the surfaces of the cloth 

 and cylinder are brought into contact, and the pat- 

 tern transferred. One cylinder can only communi- 

 cate one colour ; and, therefore, when the pattern re- 



quires two, three, or four, as many cylinders must b 

 used, modified on the same principle as was stated 

 above, when speaking of printing by blocks. For- 

 merly, the cloth had to pass once through the machine 

 for every colour ; but, of late years, Mr Bush, of Bon- 

 hill, near Dumbarton, has, by an arrangement of 

 machinery equally ingenious and effective, mounted 

 four cylinders on one machine, which act on the cloth 

 one after the other, and by this means the pattern is 

 finished with four colours in the same time that was 

 formerly employed to give one. By this means, three 

 hundred pieces can be printed in a day ; and as much 

 work can be, performed by this machine in four minutes, 

 as can be done by the ordinary method of block- print- 

 ing in six hours. When the goods are printed, the yare 

 dried in a stove ; but this is more expeditiously and 

 effectually performed by an apparatus operating by 

 steam. This machine consists of six hollow cylinders, 

 into which steam is introduced, which are kept in 

 motion, while the cloth passes over the one and un- 

 der the other alternately, the operation being acce- 

 lerated by fanners, which are kept in constant motion 

 below. This stoving serves to fix the colour, and 

 also to carry off the volatile acids, such as the muri- 

 ate of tin, the citric acid, the pyrolignate of iron, &c. 

 After stoving, the printed goods are passed through 

 a mixture of cow dung and water, which serves to 

 clear off the superfluous mordant. 



It will be seen, on reference to our article 

 Dyeing, that, besides the colouring matter, another 

 substance is employed called a mordant, which has a 

 chemical affinity both for the colour and the cloch. 

 The mordant is usually applied to the cloth, either by 

 the block, plate, or cylinder, and then it is put into 

 the dye vat, the colour being only fixed on those 

 parts where the mordant has been applied, while the 

 rest remains untouched. Another method is to dye 

 the piece of one uniform colour, and then to apply 

 some chemical agent to those parts which are intend- 

 ed to be white, as was shown in our article Bandana, 

 the chemical agent employed being called discliarg- 

 ing liquor. A substance called a resist paste is fre- 

 quently applied to the cloth, whose property is such, 

 that, when the cloth is dipped in the indigo vat, the 

 colour will be fixed on every part of the cloth, ex- 

 cepting on those parts to which the paste had been 

 communicated. Besides these methods, another is 

 employed, viz. : the mordant and colour are com- 

 bined and put together on the cloth. 



We will now lay before the reader a short view of 

 the colours and mordants chiefly employed by the 

 best calico printers of the present day. Preparations 

 of alum and of tin are very common mordants. A 

 solution of alum and soft water is made, acetate of 

 lime being added. Another mordant is formed by using 

 acetate of lead instead of the acetate of lime. When 

 this mordant is applied by the block, plate, or cylin- 

 der, the cloth is impregnated with starch or gum. 

 Fugitive or chemical colours, as they are commonly 

 called, are most commonly formed by mixing the co- 

 louring matter with a mordant, consisting of the per- 

 chloride of tin, and applying them both at once to the 

 cloth. The' same mordant is used in what is called 

 steam colours, being converted into stannate of pot- 

 ash. The cloth being immersed in a solution of this 

 substance, is dried and then placed in a bath of sul- 

 phuric acid and water, the acid being much diluted. 

 The cloth thus prepared is put into the hands of the 

 printer, and receives the pattern, the colours employ- 

 ed being mixed with a considerable quantity of starch, 

 after which the pieces are steamed. Every variety 

 of shade of pink, purple, yellow, and blue, is obtain- 

 ed hi this way, but the colours are all fugitive. To 

 these mordants used by the calico printer, we may add 

 the pyrolignate of iron, which is employed for com- 



