DYING. 
lGl 
flip ply water to a great number of manufactories, the 
mod celebrated of which are thofe of Ambelakia. This 
village, by its indiiftry, communicates life and activity 
to all the neighbouring country. Its population, which 
has been tripled within thefe fifteen years, amounts at 
prefent to four thoufand, and all thefe people live by dy¬ 
ing. Aqua fortis, or dilute nitric acid, is the belt and 
molt expeditious tell for diftinguilhing the true Adriano- 
ple red from the falfe. If we ini merle a thread of the 
latter dye in it, it foon become pale, and in lefs than a 
quarter of an hour white'; while the true Adrianople red 
will remain in it for an hour without any alteration, and, 
indeed, never entirely lofes its colour, but acquires an 
orange hue or calf. A fcarlet colour may be given to 
cotton by means of murio-fulphat of tin, cochineal, and 
quercitron bark, ufed as for filkj but the colour is too 
fading to be of any value. 
In order to dye cotton Black, it mull be previoufiy 
dyed blue, and fteeped for twenty-four hours in a 
decoCtion of nut-galls. A bath is prepared, containing 
acetit of iron, formed by faturating acetous acid with 
brown oxyd of iron. Into this bath the cotton is put 
in final 1 quantities at a time, wrought with the hand lor 
a quarter of an hour, then wrung out and aired, again 
wrought in a frelh quantity ol the bath, and afterwards 
aired. Thefe alternate precedes are repeated till the co¬ 
lour wanted is given. A decottion of alder bark is ufu- 
tilly mixed with the liquor containing the nut-galls. It 
would probably contribute to the goodnefs and perma¬ 
nence of the colour, if the cotton, before being galled, 
were impregnated with oil, by being fteeped in a mix¬ 
ture of alkaline ley and oil combined, as is practifed for 
dying cotton red-. 
To give a Green colour to linen and cotton, they are 
firft fcoured, dyed in the blue vat, cleanfed, and dipped 
in the weld bath. The ftrength of the blue and the yel¬ 
low is proportioned to the colour to be obtained. As it 
is difficult to dye cotton velvet uniformly in the com¬ 
mon blue vat, it is firft dyed yellow with turmeric, and 
finilhed green with the folution of indigo in the fulphu- 
ric acid. But it is a matter of indifference whether the 
yellow or the blue be begun firft. A procefs for dying- 
cotton velvet, or fkeins of cotton, of a fea or apple green 
in a fingle bath, is deferibed by M.d’Apligny. In it 
verdegris is mixed with vinegar, and the mixture kept 
well flopped fifteen days in a Itove ; four hours before 
tiling it, a folution of a quantity of cendres gravele'es, equal 
in weight to that of the verdegris, is added, and the mix¬ 
ture is kept hot. The cotton, thread, or velvet, are 
prepared by being foaked in a warm folution of alum, 
made in the proportion of one ounce of fait and five 
quarts of water to the pound : they are then taken out, 
and the verdegris mixture added to the bath, into which 
they are returned in order that they may be dyed. The 
different fhades of olive, and drake’s-neck green, are made 
by giving the cotton a blue ground, galling it, and dip¬ 
ping it in a weaker or ftronger bath from what the dyers 
call the black cajk , then in the weld bath with the verde¬ 
gris, and afterwards in the bath with the fulphat of cop¬ 
per ; and the colour is afterwards brightened by means 
of foap. Different fhades will be produced by the fame 
ingredients, in the formation of Saxon green, according 
to the procefs which is employed : if a Saxon blue be 
firft given, and afterwards the yellow colour, leparately, 
the effects will be fimilar to thofe above-mentioned ; but 
if the folution of indigo be mixed with the yellow ingre¬ 
dients, other refults are obtained, for then the fulphuric 
acid aCts on the colouring particles, and the intenfity of 
the yellow is diminiflied. If a lucceffion of fhades be 
dyed in a bath compofed of yellow and the folution of 
indigo, the laft approach more and more to yellow, be- 
caufe the particles of indigo become attached to the ftuff 
in preference to the yellow ones, which therefore become 
, predominant in the bath. 
The general method of dying thread and cotton a pur- 
Vol. VI. No. 339. 
pie or violet colour, is firft to give them a blue ground 
in the vat, proportionate to the (bade wanted, and to dry 
them ; they are then galled, in the proportion of three 
ounces of galls to a pound : they are left for twelve or 
fifteen hours in this gall-bath, after which, they are 
wrung and dried again. The thread and cotton are 
then pafled through a decoction of logwood, and when 
well foaked are taken out, and two drachms of alum and 
one drachm of diffol ved verdegris for each pound of thread 
and cotton, are added to the batli ; the fkeins are then 
re-dipped on the fkein flicks, and turned for a full quarter 
of an hour, when they are taken out to be aired; after 
which they are to be again completely immerfed in the 
bath for a quarter of an hour, then taken .out and wrung. 
Then the vat which has been employed is emptied ; half 
of the decoction of logwood which had been referved is 
poured in, two drachms of alum are added, and the cot¬ 
ton dipped afrefli, until it is brought to the (hade re¬ 
quired. The decoCtion of logwood ought to be ftronger 
or weaker according to the (hade we want: this violet 
Hands the “action of the air tolerably well, but cannot be 
compared in durability to that obtained by means of 
madder. In the production of violet by means of cochi¬ 
neal, it may be obferved, that the woollen ftuff has been 
difpofed to take a crimfon, by the bath, which contains 
alum ; but the tartar added to the dye-bath, brings the 
colour back to red ; this is a general property which 
acids poffefs. For purple, the red is rendered a little 
more predominant, by increafing the quantity of the co¬ 
chineal, and diminifhing the intenfity of the blue ground. 
But the fhades bordering on thefe two colours fhould 
have a diftintt red, and the fame proportion of tartar is 
preferved, though that of cochineal and the depth of the 
blue ground be leffened. 
The cinnamon and mor-dore colours are given to thread 
and cotton, by beginning the procefs for dying them with 
verdegris and weld ; they are then dipped in a folution 
of fulphat of iron, wrung and dried. When dry, they are 
galled in the proportion of three ounces of galls to the 
pound, dried again, alumed as for red, and maddered. 
When dyed and wafiied they are put into very warm foap- 
fuds, and turned until they are fufficiently brightened; 
in the aluming, decoCtion of fuftic is fometimes added. 
For fome colours, blue is combined with red and yellow ; 
it is thus that olives are made. A blue ground is firft 
given, then the yellow dye ; and, laftly, a (light madder- 
ing. The (hade which refults from this operation de¬ 
pends on the proportion of the three colours of which it 
is compofed : a browning is given with a folution of lul- 
phat of iron, for the more deep fhades. Mr. Poerner 
combines blue with yellow and red, by ufing the folu¬ 
tion of indigo in the fulphuric acid, to which lie adds 
alkali. He prepares a bath with cochineal and fuftic, 
adds the folution of indigo, and dyes the cloth in it after 
it has been alumed. He alfo makes a bath with fuftic 
and Brazil-wood, to which he adds tartar or alum, and 
in this way obtains different colours inclining more or 
lefs to blue, red, or green. A fine olive is given to thread 
and cotton, as M. d’Apligny has obferved, by boiling 
four parts of weld and one of pot-affi in a fufficient quan¬ 
tity of water; Brazil-wood, which his been fteeped over 
night, is boiled leparately with a little verdegris; , thefe 
two folutions are mixed in different proportions, accord¬ 
ing to the fliade required, and the cotton or thread after¬ 
wards dipped into the liquor. 
Of DYING LINEN and THREAD.,. 
Flax and hemp, which produce 11s thread and linen, 
exhibit the fame properties with regard to dying : and if 
cotton is an important objeCt of indiiftry, flax and hemp 
deferve particular attention, both as a national produc¬ 
tion, and as the mo.ft extenfiv.e fource of labour for the 
poor. It is a manufacture adapted to every part of the 
country ; which admits of. lubdivifion from the fabrica¬ 
tion of cordage to that of cambrics; which collects rural 
T t families. 
