IMPROVE- MENTS IN PRINTING AND DYEING TEXTILE FIBRES AND FABRICS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Crum, of Thornliebank, in the County of
Renfrew, Bleacher and Calico Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING AND DYEING TEXTILE FIBRES AND FABRICS."
Sealed the 26th July 1859, and dated the 28th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Crum at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th May 1859.
I, WALTER CRUM, of Thornliebank, in the County of Renfrew, Bleacher
and Calico Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING AND DYEING TEXTILE FIBRES & FABRICS," to be
as follows:-
My improvements consist of two parts, viz., first, in the preparation and
application of gluten by a method not hitherto employed as a mordant, to or
in conjunction with coloring matters in the process of printing and dyeing
cotton and other fibres and fabrics; and, second, in an improved method of
employing the substance commonly called lactarine, or other form of caseine
obtained from milk as a mordant for the same purposes.
First, as regards gluten. I find that gluten, which is a viscid and insoluble
substance when first separated from wheat flour, undergoes after some days
a certain amount of fermentation, during which it gradually loses these

page_text: characters, and becomes changed into a semi-fluid gummy matter, miscible
in all proportions with water. The period at which this change takes place
varies with different qualities of flour and different degrees of temperature,
and the change desired to be produced for the purposes of this Invention is
also more perfect with some flours than with others. I farther find that
gluten at the gummy stage of the changes which take place upon it by time
becomes fit without any addition (unless for purposes of dilution, for which
water or gum water are commonly used,) for being applied to cotton or other
vegetable fabrics, as in the usual processes of printing or dyeing, and for
becoming fixed upon the fabric by the application of steam in the ordinary
way, so as to form a mordant to or in conjunction with such colouring matters
as are capable of being attracted by albumen and other organic mordants.
For the purposes of this part of my Invention, I prefer to employ wheat flour
for preparing the gluten, but I do not confine myself to that alone, and the
mode I prefer is to knead the flour as in the usual process of making bread,
& from the dough to remove the starch by washing with water in the manner
well known to starch makers.. The gluten' which remains after this washing
is placed in any suitable vessel, there to remain at a temperature of about
summer heat, until it undergoes the change or transformation above referred
to, which though progressive may be produced in one or two days, or may be
extended over several days. The precise period of its reaching the most
suitable state for use, although subject to variation as before explained, may
be readily ascertained by any competent workman.
Second, as regards lactarine. I employ for the purposes of this the second
part of my Invention, caustic soda or potash to dissolve that substance, and render
it fit for being fixed as a mordant upon the fabric as in manner following:-
For example, when soda is used, I take one part (by weight) of lactarine as it
is found in commerce, and add to it one and a half parts of water, and one and
a half parts of caustic soda at sixteen degrees of Twaddell, and the fabric to
be operated on, after being printed or otherwise impregnated with this mixture,:
is then steamed in the usual way, and afterwards dyed. I do not, however,
confine myself to the exact proportions above specified, as these may require:
to be varied according to circumstances, and the results desired to be produced.
When potash is employed it is of course to be used in a proportion équivalent
to that of soda as above stated; the carbonates of potash or soda may also be
employed and with advantage when paler colours are desired.
'
As applicable to both parts of my Invention, I have farther to explain, that
when my preparation of gluten; or my préparation of lactarine as before described,
is to be applied to the fabric as a mordant only, the fabric when so treated is

page_text: to be subjected to steam, and then dyed in the usual way. When to be
applied as a topical or steam color in conjunction with the coloring matter,
my preparation, whether of gluten or lactarine, is to be mixed with the
appropriate colouring matter in the first instance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Walter Crum in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
CRUM, of Thornliebank, in the County of Renfrew, Bleacher and Calico
Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Walter Crum, Her special licence that I, the said Walter
Crum, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Walter Crum, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all. times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING AND DYEING TEXTILE FIBRES AND FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Walter Crum, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Walter Crum, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in. an employment of the caseous part of milk
together with an alkali as a mordant or intermedium for the attracting and
fixing of certain colouring matters on cotton and other vegetable textile fibres
and fabrics. The method I employ for that purpose is to mix the caseous

page_text: matter with soda or potash, and after the fabric has been printed or otherwise
impregnated with this mixture, and dried and steamed, to apply the colouring
matter with which it is to be dyed or printed. I take, for example, the curd
or cheese produced from sweet milk, whether fresh or skimmed, or that
produced from buttermilk; or I take the curd of buttermilk, in the dried
and pounded state, which is known in commerce by the name of lactarine. If
I employ lactarine, I mix one pound of it with two pounds and a half of water,
and one pound and a half of solution of caustic soda of specific gravity 1.080;
or if I employ the undried buttermilk cheese, or the undried cheese of sweet
milk which has been curdled by an acid, I take two pounds of it instead of
one, or whatever other proportion may represent an equal weight of the dry
substance, and I treat it in a similar manner, making allowance for the
quantity of water which the cheese itself may be found to contain; or, lastly,
if I employ the curd of milk which has been curdled by rennet, I take two
pounds of it where I should take one of the lactarine, or a proportion more or
less according to the quantity of water the curd may contain, and add to it
eighteen ounces of the same solution of caustic soda, and the requisite quantity
of water; I prefer, however, the buttermilk cheese dried or undried to that
made from sweet milk. This preparation is then applied to the fibre or fabric
and dried, and subjected to the action of steam or of heated air more or less
moist. The fibre or fabric so impregnated is then to be rinsed in cold water
and dyed in a preparation of orchil in the manner well known to calico
printers and dyers, or in picric acid or dinitrophenylic acid, or in the colouring
matter obtained from coal tar or from aniline; or these colouring matters
may be applied by printing them upon a fabric previously prepared with the
caseous mordant fixed by steam, and subsequently again subjecting the printed
fabric to steam.
I explain that when potash is employed it is of course to be used in a
proportion chemically equivalent to that of soda, as above described; and
that the carbonates of soda or potash may be used instead of caustic soda or
potash, and with advantage where paler colours are desired, and that also in a
proportion chemically equivalent to caustic soda, as above described. And I
find that instead of employing soda or potash altogether in the caustic state, as
above described, these alkalies may be used partly combined with arsenious
acid or with silica or alumina, or oxide of zinc, substances which, like carbonic
acid, act the part of weak acids, and which do not entirely deprive the soda or
potash of their alkaline character. I refer to these merely as variations or
equivalents which might be employed.
Although the proportions I have given are generally the best, I find that

page_text: with the various conditions of the curd an increase or diminution of alkali
may occasionally be desirable. Accordingly when I begin, for example, to
use a new parcel of caseous matter, I ascertain by preliminary trial with
various proportions of alkali, what is the exact quantity that will produce the
best result with that parcel. The proportion of water, as given above, may
also be varied, as calico printers well know, to suit the various modes of
application, or according to the depth of colour that may be desired.
My Invention farther consists in the preparation and application of gluten
without the addition of alkaline matter as a mordant for the colouring matters
already named. I find that gluten, which is a viscid and insoluble substance
when first separated from wheat flour, undergoes after some days, a certain
amount of fermentation, during which it gradually loses these characters, and
becomes changed into a semifluid gummy matter, miscible in all proportions
with water. The period at which this change takes place varies with the
different qualities of the flour from which the gluten is produced, and with the
temperature at which the gluten is kept, and the change desired to be pro-
duced for the purposes of this Invention is also more perfect with some flours
than with others. I farther find that gluten, at the gummy stage of the
changes which take place upon it by time, becomes fit without the addition
of alkaline matter for being applied to cotton or other vegetable fibres or
fabrics, as in the usual process of printing or dyeing, and for becoming fixed
upon the fibre or fabric by the application of steam in the ordinary way, so as
to form a mordant to the colouring matters above stated. For the purpose of
this part of my Invention I prefer to employ wheat flour for preparing the
gluten, and the mode I prefer is to knead the flour as in the usual process of
making bread, and from the dough to remove the starch by washing with
water in the manner well known. The gluten which remains after this
washing is placed in any suitable vessel, there to remain at a temperature of
about summer heat until it undergoes the change or transformation above
referred to, which though progressive may be produced by a change of tem-
perature in one or two days, or may be extended over several weeks. The
precise period of its attaining the most suitable state for use, although subject
to variation as before explained, may be readily ascertained by any competent
workman. I then dilute it, if necessary, to the proper thickness in the
manner well known to calico printers, and apply it to the fibre or fabric,
which is then subjected to steam, and dyed or printed as in the case of the
caseous matter above described.
Having now described the nature of my improvements and the manner of
performing the same, I would observe, as applicable to each, that I do not

page_text: confine myself to the precise details, nor to the exact proportions given above,
as these may be varied without deviating from the principle of my Inventions.
I do not claim the employment of a mixture of caseous matter, alkali, and
colouring matter, or the employment of a mixture of gluten and colouring
matter, unless such mixture shall be used after its application to the fibre as a
mordant for dyeing with the colouring matters, as already specified; but I do
claim the employment of caseine in whatever manner it is obtained from milk
in conjunction with soda or potash, as a mordant or intermedium to be applied
to cotton and other vegetable textile fibres or fabrics, for subsequently attrac-
ting and fixing upon them the colouring matters already specified, all as above
'described.
And, secondly, I claim the employment of gluten prepared or treated as
before described, without the addition of alkaline matter for being applied to
'cotton and other vegetable textile fibres or fabrics as a mordant for the
specified colouring matters, as above described; and I also claim the treating
of gluten in manner above described, for the purpose of being so employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Crum, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
JOHN TOD BROWN SIMPSON,
Clerk to Towers, Roberton & Ross,
Writers, Glasgow.
WALTER CRUM. (L.S.)