52 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



THE CHEMICAL REACTIONS OF BLEACHING 

 PROCESSES. 



Read before the Hamilton Association, February nth, iSg2, 

 Illustrated by Experiments. 



BY J. B. TURNER, B. A, 



Bleaching is the process of depriving any substance of its 

 coloring matter and thus rendering it white and clean. 



In dealing with this subject I do not propose to take up the 

 time of the meeting in discussing the history of the processes of 

 bleaching, neither do I propose to occupy your time by entering into 

 a discussion of these processes and their importance from a com- 

 mercial or manufacturing standpoint, though either aspect ot the 

 subject might furnish a theme for a paper as interesting or perhaps 

 more so than the one I am about to present. I might say, however, 

 in passing, that bleaching is a matter of first importance to the 

 manufacturer of textile fabrics, for unless the materials of which 

 these fabrics are to be made are thoroughly cleaned and w.ell 

 bleached the process of dyeing the goods will be seriously interfered 

 with. 



A few words, too, on the knowledge of the processes possessed 

 prior to the discovery ©f the more modern methods will not, I 

 trust, be out of place. 



There is a strong presumption that the process of bleaching was 

 practised by the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians ; in that they 

 were able to manufacture and did manufacture some very beautifully 

 colored goods. These colors, it is almost certain, could not be 

 obtained without first thoroughly bleaching the material of which 

 the fabrics were composed. We have no knowledge however, as lo 

 how this bleaching was effected and consequently we are unable to 

 state whether they used chemical reagents or exposed the material 

 to the action of the sun and atmosphere. 



The earliest methods of bleaching of which we have positive 

 knowledge consisted in exposing the colored material to the action 



