WASHING, BLEACHING, &LC. 291 



need not be mixed, in any greater quantity than is required 

 for use. 



When I introduced in the south the method of whitening 

 cotton yarn by the steam from alkaline solutions, I presumed 

 that the same might be used advantageously in washing and 

 bleaching household linen, and experiment has confirmed my 

 opinion. 



The apparatus I- make use of in this process, is a boiler 2^ 

 feet across at the opening and sixteen inches deep, and hav- 

 ing a rim of 1 foot in width around the top : when the boil- 

 er is fixed upon the fire-place, there is placed upon its rim, 

 and at the distance of five or six inches from the opening, a 

 tub three feet in diameter and four feet deep, but having no 

 bottom ; the brick-work is raised all around the tub a foot 

 from the level of the top of the boiler ; this brick-work is 

 so closely united to the tub, that the steam can find no 

 means of escaping. I have frames made five inches less in 

 diameter than the tub, and consisting of cylindrical bars of 

 wood fastened into solid borders at top and bottom, so as to 

 leave spaces an inch wide between the bars : the bars across 

 the bottom of the frame should be stronger than those of the 

 sides. 



When this frame is act into th« tub, there is an interval 

 of two inches and a half between the two ; and the frame 

 rests equally upon the border of the boiler, always leaving 

 sufficient openings throughwhich the steam can circulate. 



When this apparatus is made use of, the linen is soaked 

 in a tub containing a solution of soda marking 1° or 2° on 

 the hydrometer, (=■ specific gravity of 1.007 to 1.014;) it is 

 then arranged upon the frame, care being taken to place 

 those pieces that are most soiled at the bottom and upon the 

 sides. 



Three or four pipes made of white iron or copper, pierced 

 with small holes through their length and curved at the end, 

 are placed upon the bottom of the frame at equal distances : 

 the linen must be so arranged upon the frame, that the pipes 

 may be put in as far as the top of the curve, which ought not 

 to be covered with the linen. 



As soon as the apparatus is thus prepared, the remainder 

 of the ley, which has been made to boil, may be thrown 

 over the linen ; the top of the tub must then be covered 

 over with large coarse cloths, with boards laid upon them. 

 .Whilst these arrangements are in completion, the ley with 

 which the linen is wetted drains off and flows into the 



