ON COLORING. 67 



cinnamon fawn color, which galls (like many other vegetables 

 that produce black with iron) afford, particularly on cotton, with 

 alum. Galls communicate a durable nankin color to cotton, af- 

 ter the latter has been macerated in milk, dried, soaked in alum, 

 with one eighth its weight of lime, afterwards rinsed, dried, and 

 steeped in a decoction of this vegetable. 



The bark of the cherry tree, and that of the horse chesnut 

 possess the property of producing a greenish olive, with cop- 

 peras. And chamomile flowers are said to dye wool a dura- 

 ble green, with sulphate of copper (blue vitriol.) 



PREPARATION OF WOOL, he. FOR COLORING. 



To prepare wool for dyeing, it must be macerated in warm 

 water, mixed with one fourth of stale urine, or in a tepid solu- 

 tion of soap, employing one pound, with a sufficient quantity of 

 water, to every twenty pounds of wool. 



SILK. 



New silk is naturally covered with a kind of varnish, or gum- 

 my substance, and generally tinged of a yellow color. This 

 must be removed by boiling it with soap and water for one hour 

 and a half. It is sometimes necessary to whiten it still further 

 by the fumes of sulphur, to fit it for lively colors. The sulphur 

 which adheres to it after this operation, must be removed by 

 soaking and agitation in warm water. 



The art of applying a variety of colors to the same cloth, 

 cotton, linen or silk, topically, either by the printing block, 

 types, or the pencil, may be interesting to some of our fair 

 friends who add to their accomplishments in the mysteries of 

 housewifery, skill in drawing, and a taste for those fine arts 

 which contribute to the embellishment of their persons. We 

 therefore subjoin a few directions for 



CALICO PAINTING. 



Let your cloth be prepared by being well bleached, washed, 

 dried, smoothed, and spread on a table, or stretched on a frame, 



