IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE ΤΟ THE MANUFACTURE OF INK
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierre Dépierre, Merchant, of 101, Rue de Seine,
in the City of Paris, and Empire of France, for the Invention of
“IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE ΤΟ
THE MANUFACTURE OF INK "A communication.
Sealed the 18th September 1855, and dated the 30th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Dépierre at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
April 1855.
I, PIERRE DÉPIERRE, Merchant, of 101, Rue de Seine, in the City of Paris,
and Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO THE
MANUFACTURE OF INK," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the employment of certain new dyeing agents,
which have for their object,, 1st, to form a substitute for cream of tartar in the,
dyeing of wool and other substances; 2ndly, to dye in black any materials,
whether separate or mixed; 3rdly, to restore to all kinds of silk the whole or
a portion of the loss which they have undergone by the cleaning process, and
to cause them to take any color required in dyeing; 4thly, to form a substitute
for gall nuts and their salts, and oak bark, in cases in which those substances
are employed.

page_text: As a substitute for cream of tartar in dyeing wool, a decoction of the female
flowers of the alder is employed. These flowers must be well pounded before
being submitted to decoction.
The same fruits will also serve for dyeing black any textile materials, either
alone or in combination with other dyeing matters, after the fabric has been
submitted to the following preparatory process, and which is called mordanting.
This operation may be performed with any salts of iron, such as the sulphate
or pyrolignite, &c., but a preparation composed of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid,
and copperas may be employed With this salt a bath is prepared with water
to receive the fabrics to be dyed, and after they have been acted upon by the
mordant they are ready for immersion in the dye liquor. The fabrics are next
subjected to a developing bath made with pyrolignite or acetate of iron.
To restore to silks the loss in weight which they sustain by the cleansing or
scouring process, they are passed through a decoction of alder flowers or fruit,
previously clarified by means of any well-known agents, such as sulphurous.
acid, or by preference bleached with any kind of gelatine, in sufficient quantity
to impart to the bath a light brown appearance, like that of café au lait. The
weight partly restored will give a body to the silk by the intimate mixture of
the agent with the fibre, and will improve its quality in every respect. Infusion
of gall nuts and extract of. chesnut may also with advantage be submitted to:
the decoloring and bleaching processes, the latter substance being always
found very thick in commerce....
The baths must be always filtered or decanted after each decoloring or
bleaching operation. Silk thus prepared may be dyed of any color, including.
the finest black, with an increase of weight. The male flowers of the alder,
and of the wood nut, filbert, or other nut tree, will also impart great weight to
silk, and at the same time increase its lustre and softness. They are to be
well pounded before being boiled in water.
$
The bath in which the silk is to be treated must be well clarified, or, rather,
bleached with gelatine. On coming from this bath the silk will have the
finest lustre, and will be ready for taking any required color. The shells or
calices which enclose the nuts before their complete maturity would produce
the same results as the male husks. The alder. flowers will also serve to make
good ink by the usual processes, and to furnish all the salts which can be
obtained from the finest gall nuts, the process being the same.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by. the said Pierre Dépierre in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th October 1855.
":
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
DEPIERRE, Merchant, of 101, Rue de Seine, in the City of Paris and in the
Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Pierre Depierre, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre Depierre, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre
Depierre, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING, PART
OP WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF INK," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Pierre Depierre, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Paterit Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Pierre Depierre, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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):-
This Invention consists in the employment of certain, new dyeing agents,
which have for their object, firstly, to form a substitute for cream of tartar in
the dyeing of wool and other substances; secondly, to dye black cotton, silk,
and other yarn or goods composed of mixtures of fibrous materials; thirdly,
to restore to all kinds of silk the whole or a portion of the loss which they
have undergone by the cleaning process, and to cause them to take any color
required in dyeing; fourthly, to form a substitute for gall nuts and all their
salts, and oak bark; in cases in which those substances are employed.
As a substitute for cream of tartar in dyeing wool, I employ a decoction of
he-female flowers of the alder, which are to be gathered upon the mountains

page_text: during the month of August. Those found in swamps or on moors, being much
less rich, should not be employed for, this purpose when it' can be avoided, but
they may be used in a pulverized state with advantage for tanning and
dyeing skins, as substitutes for the agents usually employed for that purpose.
These flowers, which are of an elongated ovoidal form, composed of scales or
shells overlaying each other, and the ovary of which has become changed into
a horny fruit, having two compartments, and the seeds of which are angular
in form, must be well pounded before being submitted to decoction.
One hundred quarts of well-pulverized mountain fruit will furnish about
one hundred quarts of liquid, marking three degrees on the areometer. This
quantity will be sufficient when mixed with the ordinary baths for the treatment
of eight pieces of stuff.
The same fruits will also serve for dyeing black any textilė materials, cither
alone or in combination with other dyeing matters, after the fabric.has been
submitted to the following preparatory process, and which is called mordanting.
This operation may be performed-with any salts of iron, such as the sulphate
or pyrolignite, &c.; but the following .composition may be employed with the
greatest advantage, viz, ten pounds nitric acid at three hundred' and sixty-five
degrees, five pounds hydrochloric acid at twenty-one degrees; these two acids
are to be mixed, and forty pounds of copperas (sulphate of iron) gradually intro-
duced. With this salt, which I denominate ferric chlorosulphate, a bath is: to
be prepared with water marking one quarter degree on the vinegar areometer.
When this bath begins to cool the fabrics are worked about therein. A. tem-
perature of forty-five degrees is endeavored to be attained in ten minutes, and
when this temperature has been attained the fire is withdrawn, and the fabrics
are again worked about for ten minutes, after which the fabrics are withdrawn,
and allowed to remain quiescent for six hours before being carefully washed.
The second bath; which I call the coloring bath, is made with a decoction of
mountain alder fruit marking three quarters of a degree on;
the vinegar
arcometer, and on the bath cooling the fabrics are worked about therein on an.
agitator. The boiling point is endeavored to be attained. in ten minutes, at
which temperature the fabrics are again worked about for a quarter of an hour,
after which time they are withdrawn, and left quiescent for six hours previously
to being well washed in water.
:
The third bath, which I call the. developing bath, is made with pyrolignite
or acetate of iron. This bath must mark three quarters of a degree on the
vinegar areometer. When it cools the working of the fabrics is commenced, in
order to arrive at the boiling point in ten minutes, and this temperature is
maintained during a quarter of an hour. At this point of working the black

page_text: color will have been obtained, and the fabrics are withdrawn, and left to cool
before being carefully washed with plenty of water. The above is the mode of
operation for obtaining a dead black. For producing a blue black the first.
bath may be employed with sulphate of iron at three degrees, or a small quantity
of sulphate of iron is added to the first black bath above described.
The second bath will contain, besides the material which causes it to mark
three quarters of a degree, the juice of eight pounds of campeachy (logwood)
for every vat of one thousand two hundred quarts, in which are to be worked
eight pieces of mixed fabrics, each fifty yards in length. The bath of alder
fruit is to be deprived of color by gelatine, as will be presently described, and
the campeachy must not be added to the bath until it begins to boil. The
third bath will not vary. After the passing of each eight pièces in a vat of
one thousand two hundred quarts, the first bath is to have its three, quarters
of a degree of mordant renewed, and the second and third only one fourth
or rather one fifth of dyeing or developing matter.
To restore to silks the loss in weight which they sustain by the cleansing or
scouring process, they are passed through a decoction of aldor flowers or fruit
marking three degrees, which must be previously clarified by means of any
well-known agents, such as sulphurous acid, or, by preference, any kind of
gelatine applied in sufficient quantity to bring the color of the bath to a. light
brown, like that of café au lait. The weight partly restored will give a body to
the silk by the intimate mixture of the agent with the fibre, and will improve
its quality in every respect. Infusions of gall nuts and extracts of chestnuts
may also with advantage be submitted to the decoloring and bleaching
processes, the latter substance being always found very thick in commerce.
The baths must be always filtered or decanted after each decoloring or
bleaching operation.
The temperature of the bath is to be raised to twenty-five degrees; and the
silk, after having been allowed to remain in the bath for some time is to
be beaten down or worked about therein. The temperature of the bath must
never exceed thirty degrees, and must be maintained at that tenperature
during twenty-four hours at the most; the silk is then to be withdrawn, and
left to drain and cool for sonie hours, after which it is to be carefully washed.
When the silk is quite dry it should have gained in weight in the proportion
of seventy-seven grammes for every twelve ounces. Silk thus prepared may
be dyed of any color, including the finest black, with an increase of weight.
The male flowers of the alder, and of the wood nut, filbert, or other nut tree,
which are gathered in December, January, and February, will also impart
great weight to silk, and at the same time increase its lustre and softness.
.

page_text: They are to be well pounded before being boiled in water, and a hundred
quarts of them should furnish eighty quarts of liquid at about three degrees.
Two hundred quarts of flowers are required to impart to two hundred pounds.
of silk four hundred and forty-two grammes for every three hundred and
seventy-five grammes which it contains, that is to say, an increase of thirty-six
pounds; it will therefore weigh two hundred and thirty-six pounds after the
operation..
The bath in which the silk is to be treated must mark three degrees, and
be well clarified with gelatine, as for the round flowers. Its temperature must.
never exceed thirty degrees, and must be maintained uniform during twenty-
four hours, at the expiration of which time the desired weight will be obtained.
The silk is then to be withdrawn from the bath, and left to drain for some
hours previously to being well washed. On coming from this bath of male,
alder flowers and filbert flowers, the silk will have the finest lustre, and
will be in the most fit state for readily taking any required color. This will
be ascertained by the readiness with which it will take up extracts of
logwood and Brazil wood. The shells. or, calices which enclose the nuts.
before their complete maturity would produce the same result as the male.
husks. The Inventor calls, the shell of the nut the calyx which adheres to,
the ovary, or, rather, that foliaceous capsule which is longer than the nut
itself, and to the base of which it is attached.
The time at which, the, female alder flowers are gathered will have con-
siderable influence upon the color of the decoction. Thus, if they be gathered"
towards the month of July, and not later, at the same time that the richness
in dyeing matter will. be the same as in August and September, the bath
will have the appearance of water somewhat cloudy; it is therefore important'
that they should be gathered at this time for silks of light shades. Alder fruits
should not be gathered after the month of October; as they lose their richness,
and blacken upon the tree. The alder flowers will also serve to make good
ink by the usual. processes, and to furnish all the salts which can be obtained
from the finest gall nuts, the process being the same.
善
The male flowers of the 'alder and nut tree will also serve as well as the
female flowers as substitutes for. cream of tartar, in cases. where this substance
is ordinarily employed in dyeing. I have said that the male and female flowers
of the alder and nut trees will give softness and body to silk. I would also
observe, that they serve to increase the lustre and thicken the fibre of silk,
whatever may be its nature or color. I would also remark, that the. immersion
of the silk in the baths, which I call "fixative baths," may be as successfully
commenced at 11 degree as three degrees, already mentioned. If the-three-

page_text: purpose avver
how deep the shade.
All fibrous substances will, by immersion in baths of alder and nut flowers,
acquire weight, suppleness, lustre, and thickness, in the same manner as silk,
with the exception of wool, which requires to be treated at a temperature
approaching the boiling point, or at the boiling point.
If it be required to produce black dye upon silks by means of logwood after
their removal from the fixative baths, it is first necessary to saturate the dyeing
principle combined with the silk. It is well known that the agent which
serves best for this purpose is a salt of iron. If therefore it be necessary to
produce blacks of different shades, this may be readily effected in a few
moments by composing a bath with pyroliguite of iron marking three degrees;
and at a temperature of from thirty to forty-five degrees, or with chlorosulphate
of iron above mentioned, weighing two degrees, and at a temperature at most
of twenty-five degrees. Any of the other numerous salts of iron will produce
the same effect. When the black has been obtained, the dyeing process is
effected in the ordinary manner with logwood. Logwood blacks might also be
produced by adding one of the salts of iron to the bath of logwood, after having
worked the silks about therein for some minutes, and leaving them therein
until the desired shade of black be obtained.
It will be understood that in order to dye thread and cotton in skeins or
hanks, and in the piece, the temperature must never be raised to the boiling
point. From thirty to forty degrees is the most suitable temperature for that
purpose. The third bath might be prepared with chlorosulphate of iron, but
any of the salts of iron will answer the
purpose.
I have already observed, that the mixture of the male and female alder
flowers might be advantageously employed for different shades, especially for
blacks, and most especially for those of a greenish tint, such as the cachou
blacks. The black will vary according to the greater or less quantity of male
flowers employed. The finest shade is obtained by means of a bath containing
four parts of female flowers and two parts of male flowers. Silks or other
substances might also be very well and quickly dyed in a bath composed of
pyrolignite or tritacetate of iron weighing three degrees, and at a temperature
of forty-five degrees. The black will be obtained at the expiration of an hour
at the utmost. Care must be taken to air the materials every ten minutes,
and to wash them after the dyeing operation has been performed. They must
also be well dried in the open air. This mode of proceeding is very expeditious.
The black obtained will vary according to whether the female flowers are
employed alone or in combination in various proportions with the male flowers,

page_text: A second operation will increase the intensity of the black and the weight of
the material.
The correctness of the above statement will be the better understood by dyers
and competent persons from the fact that salts of iron form with a decoction
of male flowers an olive green precipitate, and with the female flowers a deep
blue black, the colors being of less 'depth and beauty when nut flowers are
employed. On adding acetate or, pernitrate of iron to a decoction of the
female flowers, it is converted into a very thick black jelly, but for this purpose
a certain proportion of acetate or pernitrate is required. The result of this
thick niass (which can only be produced by means of a considerable proportion
of one of these salts of iron) is that the saturating principle exists in great
abundance in the decoction.. The great importance of this agent will be at
once understood by any chemist. He will understand the nature thereof the
more readily from the fact that in a decoction of male flowers, either of the
alder or of nut trees. only, a liquid of a chocolate color exists without sediment
when a small quantity of milk or gelatine is added thereto, and that in a
decoction of female flowers, under the same conditions, and with the same
quantity of milk or gelatine, a very abundant precipate is formed of a greyish
appearance, the thickness of which will be increased by the quantity of milk
or gelatine added thereto. On raising the temperature of the decoction the
precipitate will become very thick and tensile like india-rubber. This precipitate
is of a blackish appearance, and brittle when dry.
The following is the analysis of the female alder flowers made by Professor
Lasseigne:
FEMALE FLOWERS.
Yellow, soft, and odorous resin
6.0 parts.
White fatty matton

page_text: When the silk or other fibrous substances are in the fixative bath, they need
not be worked about every four hours, as has been above stated. Care must,
however, be taken in putting them in the bath to ascertain whether the
threads are well in contact with the liquid. They need not be stirred about
before the expiration of twelve hours from the time of immersion, and at the
time of re-heating the bath.
upon
:
French blue is the only color which is attended with difficulty in obtaining
it silk thickened by means of alder and nut flowers. The following is
the best method of proceeding:-In the first operation the material is passed
through a bath acidulated with sulphuric acid. Second operation, a salt of
tin is dissolved with a little sulphuric acid, which is diluted with a strong hot
solution of tartaric acid. Third operation, a tepid bath of prussiate of potash;
slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid; the fibrous materials to be worked
about until the required color is obtained. The second bath may be mixed
with the first, which must be acidulated with sulphuric acid. The quantities
of tartaric acid and salts of tin must be regulated by the skill of the operator:
The operation is to be conducted in the ordinary manner.
It is not absolutely necessary to clarify the baths before immersing the
silks therein.
The best mode of clarifying, however, is to leave the liquor to
settle, and then decant it off, and filter it. This manner of operating is more
economical than the ordinary method of decoloring by chemical means. This
latter process might, however, be employed in some cases, especially for Jight
colors. The process of clarification may also be expedited by means of the
powder called Julien powder, the composition of which is well known. About
eighty.grammes are required for every one hundred quarts of liquid, which is
carefully diluted in a quart of water before making use of it for the decoction.
I have said that sulphurous acid is to be used in preference for the decoloring
and clarification of the baths. In fact, if it were found. necessary to employ it
for light or other colors, it might be used either in the liquid or gaseous form;
but always after the silks or other fibrous substances have been subjected to
the fixative bath; that is to say, that in this instance it is not the baths which
are clarified, but the silks are bleached after they have been removed from the
fixative bath.
Liquid. When that found in commerce is employed (marking two degrees
on the areometer), it must be diluted with from ten to twelve times its volume
of water. In this case, when the silks or other fibrous substances have been
well washed after being taken from the fixative bath, they are. immersed for
some seconds in the decolorizing bath; they are then taken out, and again
immersed, and withdrawn after the lapse of a quarter of an hour at most;

page_text: they are then allowed to drain well before being wrung, in order to allow the
sulphurous acid to be disengaged; after which the fibrous sulfstances are, if
necessary, carefully washed. The decolorizing bath will now have lost onė
quarter of its sulphurous acid, and, if it be desired to use it again a fresh
dose of acid must be added. to it,' in order that it may be always of the same
strength.
.:
i
'Gaseous. When used' in this form it must be employed' as when bleaching
silks or other fibrous substances in the sulphur chamber; and the fibrous
substances must be subjected thereto for a very short time, otherwise they
would undergo a loss in weight. Whichever of these two modes of bleaching
is employed, the fibrous substances must be exposed..to the air to drive
off the sulphur, in order that the dyeing operation may be performed without
difficulty. Not only will the fibres be rendered thicker and tougher after
being subjected to the fixative baths, but they will be rendered more capable of
enduring exposure to the air and to the action of damp; and fabrics 'or tissues
manufactured therefrom-will last longer than any others. It will be under-
stood that the dyeing operation is not necessary for this purpose, as the above
process only relates to the preparation of unbleached; fabrics:
Very good ink may by, the following process be made from male or female
alder flowers-To a filtered decoction of female flowers marking two degrees,
guni arabic is to be added, and when it has become well incorporated there-
with, protosulphate or, very pure, acetate,of iron is to be added to the mixture
until the desired depth of tint hus been obtained. The blackness of the ink
will be much improved by adding to the decoction of female flowers a greater
or less quantity of decoction of male flowers, also weighing two degrees. ..
As I have already stated that the richness and purity of the fixative liquid
depend upon the time at which the flowers are, gathered, care must be taken
not to do this too late in the season, as when the leaves forming the flower
open, they become black, and soon dry upon tlie tree, and the décoction made
therefrom would be very dark. If, on the contrary, the gathering be com-
menced towards the end of July or in the beginning of. August, they will dry
very quickly, and-produce a very light decoction. Silk immersed in this liquid
during twenty-four hours (although it may weigh two degrees, and be at a
temperature of from twenty-five to thirty degrees,) will be scarcely changed
in color. It would, however, retain some color on adding to the liquid a small
quantity of skimmed milk or whey. The proportion should be about six
quarts for every hundred quarts of the decoction weighing two or three degrees,
or about five-quarts-when the decoction marks from one to two degrees.
The longer, the silk remains, in the bath, the more will its size and weight,

page_text: be increased. In order that the decoction may retain its limpidity, no vesse!
or instrument composed of tin must be employed in its preparation.
It has been stated that the female flowers must be gathered by means of
scissors or a knife, but the severance must be made as near as possible to
the female flowers, in order not to injure the small branches on which the
male and female flowers of the following year are seen to be formed. A much
larger quantity will also be formed by this means than by tearing or breaking
them off. The female Howers must be well spread out, and stirred about daily,
in order to prevent them from turning black.
The gathering of the male flowers, which may also be commenced towards
the month of December, and concluded at the latest at the end of February,
must also be conducted with the greatest care, for if great attention were.
not paid thereto the crop of the August following would be lost, which is
much more important than the winter crop of male flowers, as close alongside
and a little above them are the small bunches of female flowers. The
gathering must be effected by means of the. finger nails, which will sever the
small branch supporting the male flowers a little below the bunch of female.
flowers. The dessication of the male alder and nut flowers must also be
superintended with the greatest care. They must be turned over every day!
while drying, as they are very apt to turn black and ferment.
'
Silk, after having been operated upon by .fixative baths of alder and nut:
flowers (especially the male flowers), and afterwards bleached by means of
sulphurous acid, may, if thought proper, bo made to take any shades of red.
by the employment of the scarlet inonarda flowers. The bath will each
time the silk is passed through it lose one half of its coloring matter. This,
must therefore be restored, if it be required to use it again. The color which.
the scarlet monarda (the American field basil) yields is unequalled. The.
developing agents. to.be employed therewith by preference are tartaric and citric'
acids and cream of tartar.
i I
If white silk, which has been operated upon by a fixative bath of alder or>
nut flowers, be mordanted in a suitable solution of tin diluted with water, and
marking from four to six degrees, during six hours, and afterwards passed
through a bath of scarlet monarda, all the different shades of red 'may be
obtained, from the palest pink up to the deepest red.. The violet monarda will
also furnish with salts of tin all the different shades of violet and maroon..
With tartaric: and citric acids, and also, if requisite; a small quantity of "car-
mine blue, very fine clear. tints may be produced. By combining the violet!
and scarlet monarda flowers the tints may be infinitely varied and a small.

page_text: quantity of yellow mixed with the decoction of scarlet monarda will produce
a very pretty scarlet.
:
If it be desired to dye wool mixed with silk by means of the scarlet
monarda, the coloring bath must mark from one degree to one degree and a
half. The liquid may be raised to the boiling point, and kept at that tempe-
rature until the required tint be obtained. The bath must. be acidulated either
with tartaric or citric acid. The fabrics must be worked about directly the
bath becomes lukewarm, and a few drops of sulphuric acid towards the close
of the operation will impart great brilliancy to the color. On removing the
fabric from the bath it must be allowed to drain well for two hours, at the
expiration of which it must be slightly washed. As the bath will have lost
one third of its coloring matter, this must be restored before again using it.:
If it were not desired to mix the sulphuric acid with the coloring bath, it:
should be introduced into a bath of lukewarm water, in which case it would
not be necessary to wash. the fabric in plenty of water. :
"
The tints may be infinitely varied by mixing with the bath either a small
quantity of violet monarda or a little yellow. Violet monarda also, treated.
with tartaric and citric acids, will produce all kinds of maroon and violet tints:
upon mixtures of silk and wool, and may also be carried to the boiling point.
After each operation the bath will lose one. third of its coloring matter," which
must be restored whenever it is required again to employ it.
The weight of silk or other fibrous substances may also be increased by,
submitting them to a decoction of black or brown rose mallow flowers, marking.
from half a degree to a degree. The effect is much increased after the fibres
of the silk have been thickened in a fixative bath of alder or nut flowers; and
by means of baths of salts of iron or alum, marking two or three degrees on
the areometer, fine violet blacks may be obtained. The following process is,
however, to be preferred:-After the silk or other fibrous material has been.
submitted to the fixative bath, it is passed, according to the shade of blue.
desired to be obtained, either through a salt of alum, iron, or copper; and
when well charged therewith the fabric or fibrous' material is withdrawn and.
washed, previously to being passed through a decoction of rose mallow flowers,
marking about one degree, and at a temperature of twenty-five degrees or
more. The material is worked about in this bath until the desired shade is
obtained. The violet blue blacks may also be varied by passing the silks or
other materials through a cold bath of tin solution, or through a bath of
protochloride of tin at half a degree, and a temperature of twenty-five degrees,
and afterwards washing them well.
:

page_text: Pearl greys may be obtained by passing the silk or other materials through
a light decoction of rose mallows, and developing by means of cream of tartar
in the proportion of two pounds to five hundred quarts of the decoction. They
are suffered to remain in this bath but a short time, and after having been
washed are immersed for a few seconds in a lukewarm bath formed of a
solution of tin (commonly used by the dyer) at two degrees, or they are passed
quickly through a bath of protochloride of tin at one degree, and at a tempe-
rature of twenty-five degrees, and afterwards carefully washed.
The above observations respecting the rose mallow flowers are also applicable
to the purple flowers of the scabious; but when these latter are employed, salts
of copper are preferable to all others; the shades obtained therewith are green
or olive. The baths of these flowers must mark one degree, and those of the
salts of copper. two degrees, and the temperature for both of them will be
about thirty degrees centigrade. The shades may be infinitely varied by
passing the silk or other matters through a slightly alkaline cold bath,.on
coming from, the coloring bath. Salts of iron might also be employed, but
those of tin and of tartar are useless.
The same observations apply to the flowers of the purple coreopsis, with
which all kinds of maroon tints may be obtained. For this purpose the silks,
&c., after having been thickened, are passed through a bath of a salt of iron,
such as the weak pyrolignite, for example, or of salts of copper or alum,
according to the shade'desired to be obtained. The baths of copper must
mark two and a half degrees, and those. of iron one and a half degrees, and
the temperature for both will be thirty-five degrees centigrade. After having
remained an hour in these baths, the materials are washed previously 'to
passing them through the coloring bath marking one degrec, and heated to
about thirty-five degrees centigrade. On being taken from the coloring bath,
they are passed through a lukewarm..bath composed of a solution of potash
marking two degrees, and when the, color is sufficiently developed they are
taken from the bath, and carefully, washed. :
:
I have observed above, that the silks might. be operated upon by a bath of
logwood previously to the application of a salt of iron; but in order not, to
spoil the logwood bath I would here remark that the salt of. iron (pyrolignite,
for example,) might be put in a bath of water. It should mark from, two to
three degrees, and be employed at a temperature of. from thirty to forty
degrees. A dead black may be obtained when the silk has been passed
through a fixative bath of equal parts of male and female alder. .flowers: It
will vary according to the proportions of the one or the other, and also.. if
.

page_text: the logwood bath should contain a small quantity of yellow, it will also vary
according to the length of time the substances. remain in the bath. A blue
black will be produced by.composing the fixative bath exclusively of the female
alder flowers. This may also be effected by suffering the substances-to remain
in the logwood bath a shorter time than for the dead. black.. I would' also
observe, that, as the decoction of male nut flowers: forms with salts of iron a
greenish black precipitate; these. may be very advantageously employed in all
cases where the male alder flowers have been mentioned as being applicable. -
I have observed above, that: Monsieur: Lasseigne did not obtain all the
tannin contained in the decoction upon which he operated. He stated that he
precipitated this substance by means of gelatine, and from the weight of this
precipitate which he dried, hè deduced the quantity of tannin-that might be
contained in one hundred parts of the decoction of female alder flowers. The
following are my reasons for making this observation :--In the first place a
portion of the gelatine employed remains' in suspension in the liquid, to which
it imparts a cloudy appearance. This is clearly proved from the fact that à
portion of this cloudy liquid, upon being "poured into a decoction of female
flowers, formed a thick precipitate; and, moreover, that this cloudy liquid
imparts the same weight to the silk, which may afterwards be dyed a very finė
black. The fact may be proved by putting a salt of iron in this cloudy liquid;
and therefore the presence of, tannin is: no longer indicated by the gelatine:
It would therefore lead to errorato attribute infallibility to chemical data;
which are here conipletely at fault. We must rather be guided by practice,
which often leads to more correct results, especially where animal and vegetable
substances are concerned.;
:: The following is the method by which I determine the quantity of matter
which becomes fixed in the silk and increases its weight. I boil one hundred
grammes of powdered female alder.. flowers in a sufficient quantity of water to
produce, after slight ebullition: during twenty minutes, a liquid marking from
two to two and a half degrees, and in order to extract all the strength from the
powder I again boil it with a fresh quantity of water. The product of this
double boiling gives nearly a quart, marking about two degrees. Into this
liquid, at a temperature of about thirty degrees, I immersed eighty grammes
of fine raw silk (soie sauvage) very white. I chose this silk because it absorbs
the matter from 'the liquid with great avidity. The silk was moved about
every six hours. The bath was maintained constantly at the same temperature,
and the silk, after being suffered to remain therein for twenty-four hours, was
taken out and left for four hours, and afterwards washed and dried, when' it

page_text: was found to have gained twenty-six grammes in weight. I then immersed a
fresh quantity of silk, weighing forty grammes, into the same bath, and at the
expiration of twenty-four hours it was found to have gained eleven grammes.
With the liquid remaining after this operation I made good ink, or it might
have been used a third time, if necessary; one hundred grammes of powder
imparted to the silk a weight of thirty-seven grammes.
Having now explained the nature and objects of this Invention, and the
manner of adapting these improvements to the uses of the dyer, I wish
it to be understood that I do not claim the modes described for producing
the various tints above enumerated; but I claim the means, as above
described, for obtaining the results indicated at the commencement of this my
Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Depierre, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
A. PERPIGNA,
of 46, Rue S Anne, Paris.
P. DEPIERRE. (L.s.)