DYEING. 



ing coarse woollen stuffs. To produce 

 this red, the stuffs are first boiled for two 

 or three hours with alum and tartar ; they 

 are then left to drain, slightly wrung out, 

 and then put into a linen bag, and car- 

 ried to a cool place, where they are to 

 remain a few days. Some recommend 

 five ounces of alum and one of tartar to 

 each pound of wool ; by increasing the 

 proportion of tartar, a deep and perma- 

 nent cinnamon colour is produced instead 

 of red ; others advise to use only a se- 

 venth part of tartar. The madder bath 

 should not exceed the temperature which 

 the hand can bear; if let to boil, the co- 

 lour will be different from that required. 

 When the water is at this heat, Hellot re- 

 commends half a pound of grape madder 

 to be put into it for every pound of wool 

 to be dyed. It is to be well stirred before 

 the wool is introduced, which should re- 

 main in it for an hour without boiling, 

 except for a few minutes towards the end 

 of this period, to make the combination 

 of the colouring matter with the stuff 

 more certain. 



Madder reds are sometimes rosed, as it 

 is called, with archil and brazil wood. In 

 this way they become more beautiful and 

 velvety, but the brightness thus given is 

 not permanent. 



When sulphate of copper is employed 

 as a mordant, the madder dye yields a 

 clear brown, somewhat inclined to a yel- 

 low ; when solution of tin is used, the tint, 

 according to Berthollet, is somewhat 

 brighter than that obtained by the com- 

 mon method, but is always more inclined 

 to yellow or fawn colour. 



The red procured from kermes is finer 

 than that from madder. The kermes is 

 an insect found on a small species of live 

 oak, in Languedoc, Spain, Portugal, and 

 other places ; the females alone are used, 

 they are of the shape and size of a pea, 

 and of a reddish brown colour. 



To dye woollen yarn with kermes, it is 

 first boiled half an hour in water with 

 bran ; then two hours in a fresh bath, of 

 one fifth of Roman alum, and one tenth 

 of tartar dissolved in sour water; after 

 this, it is left in a linen bag for some 

 days in a cool place. To obtain a full 

 colour, as much kermes as equals three 

 fourths, or even the whole of the weight 

 of the yarn, is put into a warm bath, and 

 the wool is put in at the first boiling. As 

 cloth is less dense than wool, either spun 

 er in the fleece, it requires one fourth less 

 of the salts in boiling, and of the kermes 

 in the bath. 



The scarlet made by kermes was called 

 scarlet in grain, from the insect rcse.u- 

 bling a grain ; it has much less bloom 

 than that procured from cochineal ; but 

 is more permanent, and spots of grease 

 may be discharged from it without injury. 

 Since the art of heightening the colour 

 of cochineal by solution of tin has been dis- 

 covered, kermes has not been much used. 

 The scarlet produced by the prepara- 

 tion of cochineal just mentioned is es- 

 teemed the finest and most splendid of 

 any. Cloth to be dyed with it is first sub- 

 mitted to the following bath : six pounds 

 of tartar are infused in the water made 

 warm, for every hundred pounds of the 

 cloth ; the bath is then stirred briskly, 

 and when the heat has increased a little 

 more, half a pound of powdered cochi- 

 neal is to be added, and the whole is then 

 to be well mixed ; immediately after- 

 wards, five pounds of a very clear solu- 

 tion of tin are to be poured in, and care- 

 fully mixed. When the bath begins to 

 boil, the cloth is introduced, and briskly 

 moved for two or three turns, after which 

 it is moved more slowly. The boiling hav- 

 ing continued for two hours, the cloth is 

 taken out, exposed to the air, and carried 

 to the river to be well washed. 



The cloth is afterwards passed through 

 a second bath for the reddening ; to pre- 

 pare which, the boiler is to be first emp- 

 tied, and again filled with water ; and 

 when this has just reached the boiling 

 point, five pounds and three quarters of 

 cochineal, powdered and sifted, are to be 

 added. These are to be well mixed; and 

 some time afterwards, when a crust that 

 forms on the surface opens of itself in 

 several places, 13 or 14 pounds of solution 

 of tin are poured in. Should the bath 

 after that rise above the edge of the boil- 

 er, it may be cooled with a little water. 

 The bath being well mixed, the cloth is 

 put in, and turned quickly two or three 

 times. It is then boiled in the bath for 

 an hour, taking care to keep it under the 

 surface. It is afterwards taken out, ex- 

 posed to the air, and, when cool, washed 

 in the river, and dried. 



Some dyers do not remove the cloth 

 out of the first bath ; but merely refresh 

 it, and perform the operation of redden- 

 ing in the same bath. In this method, the 

 infusion of cochineal, made in a separate 

 vessel, and mixed with a proper propor- 

 tion of tin, is added. By conducting the 

 process in this way, the scarlet is suppos- 

 ed to be equally fine, and there is a 

 considerable saving of time and fuel. 



