1884.] 
Analyses of Books." 
169 
Bleaching, Dyeing, and Calico-Printing, with Formula, Lon- 
don : J. and A. Churchill. 
We have here a treatise on the three important and kindred arts 
of bleaching, dyeing, and cahco-printing, compressed into the 
very brief space of 203 pages, the index being included. Under 
each of its leading sections we find a sketch of the history of the 
art, —which might, perhaps, _ have been better left to be dealt 
with in larger works, theoretical explanations, and practical pro- 
cedures. The receipts, though necessarily very few in number, 
are taken from modern pradtice, and, as far as they go, may be 
safely followed. A few passages are open to be misunderstood. 
Thus on p. 63 we read — “The perrotine is employed in the 
French and Belgian fadtories, but not in the English, and efifedts 
a great saving of time and labour over hand-block printing ; 
what required twenty men and twenty children, by this latter 
method being accomplished by the perrotine by one man and 
two children. 
This is perfedtly true, and yet to an outsider it is capable of 
conveying the false impression that hand-block printing is still 
in common use in England. The fadt is that the great bulk of 
English printed calicoes are executed by means of the cylinder 
machine, which effedts a still greater economy. We find the 
author saying — “ In certain cases, such as in printing woollen 
and mousseline de laine goods, block-work has been very gene- 
rally superseded by cylinder-printing.” Now it is precisely in 
woollen-printing that the cylinder-machine is least satisfactory, 
and that blocking remains to a considerable extent in use. 
In a note at the foot of p. 78 it is stated that Kopp first sug- 
gested the use of hyposulphite of soda as a mordant. We 
presume that this is a clerical or typographical error for “ hypo- 
sulphite of alumina,” which was proposed by Kopp in place of 
the acetate of alumina. Concerning the advantages, however, 
most pradtical authorities are sceptical, and it does not seem to 
have come into extended use. 
We do not see any reference to aluminium sulphocyanide, 
now so largely used for alizarine steam reds in place of red 
liquor. In one receipt for an extradt red it is mentioned along 
with red liquor. 
We can scarcely enter into the spirit of those portions of the 
following passage which we have italicised : — “ The discovery 
and application of the coal-tar colours have given an unprece- 
dented impetus to this among other branches of calico-printing, 
not only by increasing the number and variety of tinctorial 
agents possessing purer tints, but because the raw material for 
manufacturing them lies around us. At the present day when 
the printer requires pale chintzes it is not necessary for him to 
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