The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1891-05-30
THE ART OF DYEING.
SOMETHING ABOUT WHICH BUT
LITTLE is POPULARITY KNOWN.

An Advance In tho Art-DiscoyerIes In
Chemistry = An Important Industry.
CoIors.
But this is the age of color; and In moth
Ing else during the last thirty years has
science made such forcible impression
on the usages of domestic life as 1t has
made through its contributions to the
resources of the dyer. Go through the
dry goods district and observe the win
dows. Look into the carpet ware rooms,
the furniture ware rooms, or even into
the gentleman's furnishing store. Every
where the rainbow seems to have been
caught and reproduced in fresh hues. The
very flowers and fruits, though still beau
tiful and attractive on account of their
odor and flavor. have lost the transcend
ing superiority in tints for which they
were once noted, and must consent to be-
come only common contributors to an
ocean of color, where every wave Is q
translucent marvel According to NJ.
Chevreul, the resources of the dyer now
cover u, 900 ehromatic shades. But after
counting 14.999 shades it would have
been Just as well had this author stopped
calculating and pronounced the remainder
infinite in number.
This sudden advance in the art of dye.
ing has been due to the general cause that
has contributed SO much to civilization
during the last hundred years. 1t has
been due To the discoveries in chemistry
Through all the many centuries of history
the world knew only of natural dyes. and
down to the beginning of the present cen.
tury. or rather till past the middle of this
century, it still busted itself with the dis
covery of new natural agents 1t had
found indigo. cochineal logwood. madder.
quercitron bark, sumach, Brazil wood,
and other vegetable or wood dyes, and 1t
learned by various means 10 be more or
less successful, b. the use OF chemicals in
a process technically known as mordant=
ing. in making permanent the colors pro
duccd by these agents. But IL had not
learned TO distill color from the elements
Il could reach only the boundaries of an
empire thai WIS not yet quite won.
Finally. the chemist Unverdarben diseov.
cred aniiine "A purely chemical agent, the
dlstlllaUon from eo4l tar This discovery
opened the W. for an industrial revolu-
ton, which Is perhaps even yet only in
the infancy OF its movement. This hap
pened ia le25. But the utility of the dis
tONNI4 Ada ilOb hAoNn htlNll AllullN NtfAio
later 1t was not until the year 1853 that
the tint known rs Perkins purple, pro-
dcct of aniline. followed soon afterward
by aniline red. or Magenta became known.
Then the revolution was fairly Inaugural
ted, and since this latter date the advance
has been rapid All that is most brilliant
in color is credited to this new chemical
agent.
But the body of the art remains un-
changed What are technically known as
the wood dyes have more substance and
pcrmaneney than the aniline dyes. Indigo
still forms the basis for blue. The scarlet
on the coats Of the British soldiery, war
ranted not 10 run, is mainly produced
from cochineal. madder is the basis for
crimson red aud Turkey red, and yellowis is
produced by fustic, quercitron bark, or Its
concentrated extract. called fiavine, and
from Avignoa or Persian berries The
mordants remain also unchanged. Chief
among them is the oxide of tin, called tin
spirits by the trade. This fixes the scarlet
colors founded upon cochineal: but alum
Is used as n mordant for crimson red. and
cherry red is produced with a tin NOR
dant from ammoniacal cochineal Turkey
red is produced from madder on an alumi-
nous basis. Thus ran the formula in the
old art of dyeing. and thus it runs still.
Aniline is rather n reinforcement than an
Independent agent. Prussian blue, how
ever, is purely chemical product, and its
discovery antedated the discovery of ami
line colors.
But after the production of the simple
or primary colors comes the production OF
the infinite variety of tints that so to
make up the total used in the industrial
arts. In this work the process of the
dyer differs from the process Of the painter
rather in the means of execution than IN
the principles on which he works Does
the dyer wish to produce u green fabrieY
He may mix indigo (blue) with fustic or
quercitron bark yellow, handling at the
same time the mordants in accordance
with the teachings of the best experience,
and the result will be the desired color.
Does he want orange? The dyes that pro-
duce yellow aud red will give him an
orange fiber. and by the same process OF
combination he may have purple, violet,
mauve, gray, drab, black, or any one OF
NJ Chevreul's 10000 chromatic tints. But
he should be man with a trained eye,
and person who is color blind will
L. L., IL. 1ss.R