OCTOBEE 19, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



491 



tory work was carried on in the evenings 

 and vacation time. In those days one of 

 the problems was the artificial production 

 of vegetable and animal products, and 

 amongst other subjects I was ambitious 

 enough to try and produce quinine artifi- 

 cially, of course from purely scientific 

 motives, but, as is frequently the case, the 

 research took an unexpected turn; no qui- 

 nine was formed, but only a dirty reddish- 

 brown precipitate. Unpromising though 

 this result was, I was interested in it and 

 thought it more desirable to experiment 

 with an analogous but more simple ma- 

 terial than I had previously used. Aniline 

 was, therefore, taken, but in this case I 

 obtained a black and more unpromising 

 product, but on submitting this to investi- 

 gation found it contained, besides other 

 things, a beautiful purple coloring matter 

 which was found to be capable of dyeing 

 silk and other materials, and it was in fact 

 the product we now know as the 'mauve 

 dye.' This discovery was made in the 

 Easter vacation of 1856. I showed this 

 dye to some of my chemical friends, who 

 thought it might be valuable, but its evi- 

 dent costliness and the difficulties of pre- 

 paring aniline for its production on a large 

 scale made the probability of its proving 

 of practical value very doubtful. At this 

 time aniline was a very rare product, only 

 found in a few research laboratories, and 

 could not be purchased. Having obtained 

 an introduction to Messrs. PuUar of Perth, 

 the well-known dyers, some pieces of dyed 

 silk were sent to them, and they reported: 

 ^'If your discovery does not make the 

 goods too expensive it is decidedly the 

 most valuable that has come out for a long 

 time." This report was very satisfactory 

 except the 'if it commenced with. During 

 the summer vacation, and with the help of 

 my brother, Mr. T. D. Perkin, larger ex- 

 periments were made and consequently 

 larger quantities of coloring matter ob- 



tained, and it was then decided to patent 

 the process, but a difficulty arose. I was 

 but eighteen years of age, and it was ques- 

 tionable whether a patent could be granted 

 to any one under twenty-one (a minor). 

 Counsel's opinion had, therefore, to be ob- 

 tained, and this was to the effect that, a 

 patent being a gift from the crown, the 

 matter of age did not affect the grant. 

 Further experiments were then made on 

 dyeing and calico printing, and although 

 the colors were admired, that terrible if 

 respecting the cost was always brought for- 

 ward, besides other questions. Neverthe- 

 less, I became persuaded in my own mind 

 of the importance of the dye, and as a con- 

 sequence I gave up my position as assistant 

 to Dr. Hofmann that I might follow up 

 the subject, but at this he was annoyed, 

 probably thinking I was taking a false 

 step. I was also much afraid that by 

 entering into this technical pursuit my re- 

 search work might be prevented, but I 

 determined that so far as in me lay this 

 should not be the case. 



But the difficulty in starting this new 

 industry was that no one was willing to 

 come forward with the requisite capital, 

 because they were not ready to risk it on 

 such a new and untried product as this 

 dye. My father, however, although he had 

 been disappointed at my becoming a chem- 

 ist instead of an architect, nevertheless, 

 had so much confidence in my judgment 

 that he very nobly risked most of the cap- 

 ital he had accumulated by a life of great 

 industry by building and starting works 

 for the production of this mauve dye. Had 

 it not been for this generosity on his part, 

 for which I have always felt very grateful, 

 probably I should not have been able to 

 start this industry. My father and brother 

 joined me in this undertaking, and I feel 

 that my success was largely due to their 

 collaboration. Time would fail me to en- 

 ter into all the difficulties that beset the 



