IM-. PROVED NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING INKS AND NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING VARNISHES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Chaplin May, of Sanders Terrace, Chobham
Road, Stratford, in the County of Essex, for the Invention of "IM-.
PROVED NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING INKS AND NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING
VARNISHES."
Sealed the 22nd December 1869, and dated the 9th October 1869..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Chaplin May
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th October 1869.
I, WILLIAM CHAPLIN MAY, of Sanders Terrace, Chobham Road,
Stratford, in the County of Essex, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING INKS AND NON-
OLEAGINOUS PRINTING VARNISHES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of non-oleaginous
printing inks (both black and coloured) and non-oleaginous printing
varnishes by the means herein-after described. The said inks and
varnishes are designed for the use of letter-press printers, and can be
"distributed" and applied to type or other relief printing surfaces by.
A

page_text: "rollers " or "balls" in the same way as ordinary oleaginous letter-press
printing inks and varnishes. The inks are also intended for use as
marking ink for linens.
The ingredients I employ for making my non-oleaginous inks and
varnishes may be classed under three heads, viz.:-
1. "Body Vehicles or Solvents."-These liquids are so termed from
their being used as solvents or vehicles for the "bodies," coloring
agents.
2. "Bodies." The materials belonging to this class are designated
by me "bodies" because they can be made (by using one or more of
them at the same time) to give body to either diluted or undiluted
glycerine, in other words to form therewith more or less thick and viscid
compounds.
3. Coloring Materials.-(These are only necessary for making inks,
not for making varnishes.)
The following is a list of the said ingredients classed as suggested.
"Body Vehicles or Solvents."-Glycerine (undiluted) both pure and
crude, and pure and crude glycerine diluted with water in various pro-
portions between 1 and 200 per cent. as herein-after explained.
"Bodies."-Gums arabic, senegal, and tragacanth, East India, Turkey,
and Australian gums, and all such other natural gums as are soluble in
or as will form with either diluted or undiluted glycerine (the liquids
which I term my "body vehicles or solvents") if heated therein viscid
or mucilaginous compounds. The artificial gums known as "British
gum,'
," "soluble gum," "leivcome," "dextrine," " gum substitute," or
any other artificial gum that is soluble in or that will form with the
liquids which I term my "body vehicles or solvents" viscid or mucila-
ginous compounds. All such raw and torrefied starch or fecula all such
amylaceous flours (that is, flours which are composed in part of starchy
matter, like those of the cercalia for instance), and all such raw and
torrefied farina as are soluble in or as will form with the liquids I term
my "body vehicles or solvents" if heated therein viscid mucilaginous
or pasty compounds. Biborate of soda, common or calcined, china
clay, pipe clay, common whiting, sulphate of lead, and oxide of zinc.
3. Coloring Materials.-I can give color to my inks by means of
the coloring matters of most of the dye woods, dye stuffs, and tinctorial.

page_text: materials used in dyeing and calico printing, and the astringent vegetable
substances, mordants, and reagents used in the said arts of dyeing, and
calico printing for producing, modifying, and fixing colors can to a
large extent be used in connection with my inks for like purposes, in
brief I employ any animal, vegetable, or mineral coloring material or any
mordant or reagent that can be made (without giving rise to prejudicial
chemical reactions) by solution, intimate incorporation, or otherwise to
give color to the ingredients which I use for forming the body of my
inks.
The body of the ordinary oleaginous printing ink used by letter-press.
printers is commonly made of burnt or boiled drying oils (principally
linseed) and resin. The resin is dissolved in the prepared oil whilst warm,
and to the varnish thus formed color is given by grinding up therewith
some pulverized color or pigment. It is by no means usual for such
colors or pigments to be soluble in the oleaginous varnishes with which
they are used, they are simply intimately mixed by stirring and grinding.
I can give color to my inks with the same kind of colors used in the
same way, but a salient feature connected with this Invention is, that I
am also able to use for that purpose the coloring matters of most of the
dye stuffs, and tinctorial materials and the mordants and reagents which
are used in dyeing and calico printing, the major part of these being
soluble in or miscible with the various ingredients use for forming the
body of my inks. Hence it is that I am enabled in many instances to
give color to my inks by actual solution of the coloring agents to give
permanence to and to vary colors by mordants and reagents to make
inks of an almost unlimited variety of colors and shades both vivid
and delicate, fast and fugitive, and in most cases at less cost than
corresponding qualities of coloured oleaginous printing inks..
The following particulars are in explanation of the process of manu-
facture: It should be understood at the outset that the degree of
tenacity and consistence to be given to an ink or varnish depends upon
the purpose for which such ink or varnish may be designed. Large and
coarse work requires ink of less tenacity and consistence than small and
fine work. Variations in the tenacity of my inks and varnishes can be
brought about readily by varying the ingredients or the proportions of
the ingredients composing them, for as regards the tenacity of the
compounds they yield with diluted or undiluted glycerine my "bodies"
differ widely. The first step then in the process of manufacture must

page_text: be to decide upon the description of ink to be made, i.e., whether for
large or small, coarse or fine work. This being settled next fix upon the
coloring material or materials to be used, then select such one or more
of the "bodies" as can at least cost be made to form with either diluted
or undiluted glycerine (as the case may be) and the coloring material
or materials an ink possessing tenacity and consistence suited to the
purpose for which it may be required, taking care also to select such
"body" or "bodies" as will mix with the other ingredients and with each
other if more than one be used without giving rise to prejudicial chemical
reactions.
⚫ The three considerations mentioned in the preceding paragraph, viz.,
economy, tenacity, and chemical compatibility, are the main ones which
govern me in the selection of "bodies," but there are a few subsidiary
matters also to be taken into account. Regard should be had to the
intensity of the shade which it is desired to obtain, for the less dense
"bodies" will as a rule produce the brightest and deepest colored inks,
for instance, gum tragacanth, raw flour, raw starch, or raw farina used
as "bodies" will produce with the very same colors in many cases
inks of more intense shades than gum arabic or the artificial gums.
Gum tragacanth, raw flour, raw starch, or raw farina, do not how-
ever of themselves possess sufficient body or binding quality for
making very tenacious inks, therefore in making inks which are required
to possess tenacity these should not be used alone, but to as large an
extent as possible in connection with some other more adhesive "body"
or "bodies." The hue of the "bodies" must be also considered, as
colored "bodies" will injure delicate colors by adding to them their own
shade. It will not unfrequently happen that several of the "bodies"
or a variety of mixtures of them may be used with the same color or
coloring agents with equally good results in most respects; when it
so happens considerations of economy must decide between them. All
the "bodies" may be used in the shape of fine powder, but I prefer to
prepare the natural gums for use by first dissolving them in water, then
ridding the solution by decantation or otherwise of any gritty or insoluble
impurities it may contain, and lastly evaporating it to as thick a
mucilage as possible.
Glycerine and its Dilution.-I use both pure and crude glycerine, the
former chiefly for the better qualities of inks and varnishes and delicate
colors and the latter in all cases in which the impurities it may contain

page_text: will not have a prejudicial action upon the other ingredients to be used
with it. Pure glycerine would answer all my purposes, but as the purer
the glycerine the more costly it is economical considerations recommend
the use of the more or less crude in all possible cases. Of course the
density of the glycerine will vary with the degree of purity. In making
inks and varnishes which are intended for fine work I use either un-
diluted glycerine or glycerine diluted with from 1 to 50 per cent. of
water; if the ink or varnish is for large or coarse work or for any
description of work that will permit of their being used, then I dilute
the glycerine with from 50 to 200 per cent. of water. As a general rule
the thinner the ink or varnish the more dilution will the glycerine bear.
Inks and varnishes made from glycerine which has been diluted with
more than about 100 per cent. of water do not keep so well as those
made from glycerine containing a less per-centage; they need to be used
sooner after manufacture. In diluting the glycerine my chief guiding
principle is to use only sufficient glycerine to prevent the ink or varnish
drying too rapidly whilst in work. If too large a proportion of water be
used the ink or varnish dries upon the surface being printed from and
upon the rollers and clogs them. By increasing the proportion of
glycerine the tendency of the ink or varnish to evaporate in working is
diminished, as glycerine does not, like water, evaporate when exposed to
the atmosphere.
-
Respecting the Coloring Materials. By preference I use such
coloring materials as are soluble in either diluted or undiluted
glycerine, or in the mucilage which is to form the body of the ink
to be colored; next to this class of coloring materials I prefer such
as are soluble in other menstrua than those just mentioned, and which
menstrua can be mixed with diluted or undiluted glycerine without
giving rise to prejudicial chemical reactions and without precipitating
the colors. When I employ such colors or pigments as cannot be
used in the soluble state I finely pulverize them, and add them before
heating to the ingredients which are to form the body of the ink and
thoroughly incorporate them therewith by stirring and grinding in a
manner similar to that practised in the manufacture of ordinary
oleaginous printing inks.
The following would be my modus operandi when making an ink
suitable for use in printing from fine relief surfaces:-Let me suppose
that the color is to be an aniline color, say, roseine, either the crystals

page_text: or a spirit solution of this colour may be employed. If the crystals be
used they may be mixed up with the other ingredients, and will be
found to dissolve readily therein on heating. If a spirit solution be used
it has but to be added to the other ingredients (before heating them) in
sufficient quantity to give the tint desired. However I prefer when 5
practicable to dissolve the crystals in the glycerine before diluting it
and before mixing with it the "bodies;" 0 parts of either British gum or
dextrine, 3 parts of either raw starch, raw flour, or raw farina, and 1
part of gum senegal are suitable "bodies" and suitable proportions to
be employed in this instance, though by no means the only mixture of 1
my "bodies" that could be employed for the purpose.
For every
avoirdupois pound of "body" I add about one fluid pound of "body
vehicle or solvent."
of
Definite Formula.-Take an imperial half gallon of glycerine and
dissolve therein (using heat to effect the solution if necessary) a sufficient 1
quantity of the crystals of roseine to produce the tint desired; after the
color is dissolved dilute the solution with one imperial pint of soft or
distilled water; then take four and a half pounds (4 lbs.) avoirdupois
of British gum, one and a half pounds (1 lbs.) avoirdupois of raw rice
starch, and half a pound (lb.) avoirdupois of gum senegal, all well 2
pulverized; mix the two former together in the dry state, dissolve
the gum senegal in water, rid the solution by decantation or otherwise
any insoluble impurities it may contain, then evaporate it to as thick
a mucilage as possible, and add it to the solution of glycerine and
color ; now mix and grind all the ingredients together; this being 2
done heat the resulting compound in some suitable vessel to about 200°
Fabrenheit, maintain it at that heat for ten or twenty minutes, keeping
the materials well stirred during the time of applying heat; finely grind
the compound so as to clear it of any lumps or clots which may have
been formed during the heating. After cooling the ink will be ready 3
for use, and will be found to be suitable for printing from fine relief
surfaces, and to "work" with a roller or rollers in a manner similar to
the oleaginous inks used by letter-press printers. It is not material
what kind of apparatus is used for heating and grinding, so long as the
materials are not burned and are well ground. The heating may be 3
done, say, in a copper pan over an open fire, or in a copper vessel fitted
with a steam jacket; the grinding may be done by such a mill as is
used for grinding colors, or some such apparatus as that which is
employed for grinding oleaginous printing inks.

page_text: "Bodies" Procured from Different Sources.-Artificial gums pre-
pared by different makers especially yield compounds of different degrees
of tenacity and consistence; like variations may also be caused by
changes of temperature. The remedy for this is simple. Should an
ink or varnish after cooling be found too thin for the purpose required
add more of the "bodies;" if two thick add more glycerine prepared
by coloring and dilution as at first, and so on, adding more of the
ingredients, which will supply the lacking quality. In every case after
adding fresh ingredients re-heat and re-grind, as was done in the original
instance. Different results are also afforded by artificial gums prepared
by different processes; for adhesiveness I prefer those prepared by
torrefaction; for color, those prepared by the diastase or acid pro-
cesses; the former are of a yellowish brown hue, the latter more or less
white.
The difference between my non-oleaginous printing inks and what I
term my non-oleaginous printing varnishes is, that in the former the
ingredients are coloured by the addition of some colouring material; in
the latter they are uncoloured, that is, the varnishes are made of the
same ingredients and in the same way as the inks, excepting that no
colouring matter enters into the composition. If what refers to the
colouring matter be omitted the formula I have given for roseine ink
may be taken also as the formula for a varnish similar in quality to
that ink.
Inks and varnishes for common or large work are manufactured in a
similar manner to the ink for fine relief surface printing, so far as the
mixing or mechanical part of the process is concerned. The difference
between them is only in consistence and tenacity, and this difference is
brought about by simply varying the ingredients or the 'proportions of
the ingredients of which they are composed.
In the case of the roseine ink the tinctorial material of itself gave the
desired color on solution. With the extracts or colouring principles of
many dye woods and dye stuffs the case is otherwise. Some of the
colours obtained from them have to be developed or modified by means
of mordants or reagents. The operation of mordants or re-agents upon
coloring materials of this kind is a matter well understood by dyers and
calico printers.
I will now explain my mode of procedure when using the class of
In the color afforded by

page_text: one of the most known dye woods, viz., logwood. I employ both liquid
and dry or solid extracts of dye woods or dye stuffs. When I use a dry or
solid extract I ordinarily dissolve it in glycerine, treating it similarly to
the crystals of roseine; having done this I dilute the solution (if necessary)
add suitable "bodies" thereto, and heat and grind the resulting com-
pound in the manner previously explained. When I employ a liquid
extract I proceed thus :-If I wish to make an ink similar to the roseine
ink already described, that is, an ink suitable for fine relief surface
printing, but of the natural color (reddish brown) yielded by logwood,
I use the liquid extract of commerce of about the strength of 12°
Twaddle; with one part of such extract I mix 2 parts of glycerine, then
add suitable "bodies" thereto, and heat and grind the resulting com-
pound in the manner previously explained. Both solid and liquid
extracts of logwood can be made to produce inks of different hues by
incorporating with the ingredients forming the ink, or by dissolving in
the solution of extract and glycerine before adding the "body" or
" bodies" (applying heat to effect the solution if necessary), certain
mordants or reagents. Thus there will be produced, by the addition of
acids, red shades; by alkalies, purplish or violet blue shades; shades of
mauve, peach, or 'plum, by protochloride of 'tin; a variety of shades
between light purple and purple black with aluminous mordants, and
between lilac and black with ferruginous mordants, and other variations
either by using other mordants than these, by using two or more mor-
dants at the same time, or by the addition of some other colouring material
to that of the logwood. When employing liquid mordants, such, for
example, as red liquor (acetate of alumina) and iron liquor (acetate of
iron) I dilute the glycerine with the liquid mordants instead of with
water, and dissolve therein a dry extract of the colour to be employed;
then add suitable "bodies," and heat and grind the resulting compound
in the manner previously explained.
As I have already intimated my inks can be used as marking ink for
linen. The inks I use for this purpose are made in the same way as
those for ordinary printing purposes. It is however essential that they
contain indelible colouring materials, or colouring materials that can be
rendered indelible by the admixture of suitable mordants, the mordants
being combined with the ink itself or applied to the linen before printing
on the ink. I apply the ink by means of a small "roller" or "ball"
to the device in relief with which it is intended to mark the linen.

page_text: The device may be in the shape of a hand stamp, or fitted to some
such instrument as those used in commercial offices for endorsing
documents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Chaplin May in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHAPLIN MAY, of Sanders Terrace, Chobham Road, Stratford, in the
County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Chaplin May, Her special licence that
I, the said William Chaplin May, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Chaplin May, 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
"IMPROVED NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING INKS AND NON-OLEAGINOUS PRINTING
VARNISHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Chaplin May, 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 William Chaplin May, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture by the means
herein-after described of non-oleaginous printing inks and non-oleaginous

page_text: printing varnishes that possess the properties necessary for being "dis-
tributed" and applied to relief printing surfaces in the same way as the
oleaginous inks used by letter-press printers, that is to say, by "rollers"
or "balls" and the inking apparatus used in connection with rollers and
balls in letter-press printing. Hence my inks and varnishes are adapted
for being printed from type and other relief printing surfaces by letter-
press printing machinery.
The following may be instanced as some of the uses to which they
may be put by letter-press printers :-They can be used by them, (1), to
supersede in many cases their ordinary oleaginous inks and varnishes;
(2), for printing cheques or forms of any description in which it may be
a desideratum to prevent the alteration of writing or marks being made
without detection; (3), for enabling them to execute upon textile or
other suitable fabrics various descriptions of typographic printing, &c. in
the several styles of printing practised by calico printers, and known as
the "topical," "madder," "padding," "resist," and "discharge" styles.
Use Number One.-I am able to employ for giving colour to my inks
the coloring matters of most of the dye stuffs and tinctorial materials as
well as the mordants and reagents which are used in dyeing and calico
printing; and instead of simply mixing or grinding up some insoluble
colour or pigment with the other ingredients, as is done in the manu-
facture of most oleaginous printing inks, I can give color to mine by
actual solution of the colouring agents, and can vary colors by means of
mordants and reagents. My inks can therefore be made of more
brilliant and varied tints, and frequently at less cost, than corresponding
qualities of oleaginous inks. Although the colours of many of my inks
can be fixed by the means employed by calico printers for fixing their
colors, videlicet, by the use of suitable mordants, "steaming," &c., yet
there are some which cannot be made to withstand upon paper the action
of moisture or weather like oleaginous inks; these, when the uses to
which they are put render it desirable, I protect with a coating of some
varnish which is impervious to the agencies having a destructive action
upon them.
Use Number Two.-When my inks are intended for printing cheques,
&c. in case of which it may be desired to prevent writing or marks of
any kind being removed or altered for fraudulent or other ends without
detection, I use such colors (chiefly vegetable) in their manufacture as
are destroyed or prejudicially acted upon by the ordinary agencies

page_text: employed for extracting writing, &c., or such as are very delible and
would be wholly or in part washed off the document in the attempt to
tamper therewith, the printed pattern being of course at the same time
disfigured; or I dissolve in my "body vehicles or solvents" before
manufacture such mordants or reagents as will chemically combine with
some one or more of the ingredients composing the writing or other ink
afterwards to be used, and form therewith an indelible color or stain;
thus if I print with an ink in which ferrocyanide or ferridcyanide of
potassium has been dissolved to saturation and afterwards write upon it
with ordinary black ink this result will be secured. I am careful not to
use such colors as will combine with the prussiates and prevent their
acting in the desired manner upon the ingredients of the writing ink.
But very few (if any) of the colors, mordants, or reagents that are best
suited for this purpose can be incorporated by solution with oleaginous
ink, the several ingredients being chemically antagonistic.
Use No. Three-From my being able to employ in connection with
inks and varnishes which are suitable for letter-press printing most of the
coloring materials, mordants, reagents, &c. used by calico printers follows
also my ability to employ type and other relief printing surfaces as well
as letter-press printing machinery for the execution of various descriptions
of typographic and other work in the several styles of printing practised
by and known to calico printers as the topical, madder, padding, resist,
and discharge styles. For instance, novel and effective show bills,
book covers, &c. can in this way be produced upon textile or other
suitable fabrics. My inks can be used for the topical style, and my
varnishes will serve as vehicles for the printing on of the necessary
mordants or reagents, &c. for executing the other styles, the mordants,
&c. being dissolved in or incorporated with the varnishes at the time of
or after manufacture in the way elsewhere explained. In calico printing
from relief surfaces colors and mordants are commonly applied to such
surfaces either from a piece of woollen cloth called the "sieve," which is
kept uniformly covered with coloring matter, or from an endless band of
woollen cloth, which cloth in revolving passes through a trough con-
taining a supply of the thickened coloring matter or mordant being
used; but such of my inks and varnishes as are intended for like
purposes may be "distributed" and applied to type or other relief
printing surfaces by means of a roller or rollers after the manner
practised in letter-press printing with ordinary oleaginous printing ink.

page_text: I do not profess to be able to use by means of my inks and varnishes all
the colors and mordants employed by calico printers with so good an
effect as in their case; on the contrary, I know that there are a few
mordants and colors which will have their qualities or affinities for the
materials printed upon more or less masked by the glycerine or by the
greater proportion of body I employ. In performing any of the other
operations pertaining to the different styles of printing practised by
calico printers than those which have reference to the printing on of the
colours and mordants my mode of procedure is the same as theirs.
My inks can be used further as marking inks for linen. The inks
I employ for this purpose are made in the same way as those for
ordinary printing purposes. It is of course essential that they contain
either indelible colouring materials, or coloring materials that can be
rendered indelible by the operation of suitable mordants, the mordants
being combined with the ink itself or applied to the linen before or after
the printing on of the ink. I usually apply the ink by means of a small
roller or ball to the device in relief with which it is intended to mark the
linen. The device may be in the shape of a hand stamp, or it may be
in a shape suitable to be fitted to some such instruments as those used
in commercial offices for endorsing documents, &c.
The ingredients I employ for making my non-oleaginous inks and
varnishes may be classed under three heads, videlioit :-
(1.) "Body Vehicles or Solvents."-These liquids are so termed from
their being used as solvents or vehicles for the "bodies," coloring
agents, &c.
(2.) "Bodies." The materials belonging to this class are designated
by me "bodies," because they can be made (by using one or more of
them at the same time) to give body to either diluted or undiluted
glycerine; in other words, to form therewith more or less thick and
viscid compounds.
(3.) "Coloring Materials."-These are only necessary for making
inks, not for making varnishes.
The following is a list of the said ingredients classed as suggested :-
"Body Vehicles or Solvents."-Glycerine (undiluted) both pure and
crude, and pure and crude glycerine diluted with water in various
proportions between 1 and 200 per cent., as herein-after explained:
"Bodies."-Gums arabic, senegal, and tragacanth, East India,

page_text: "
Turkey, and Australian gums, and all such other natural gums as are
soluble in or as will form with either diluted or undiluted glycerine
(the liquids which I term my "body vehicles or solvents ") if heated
therein viscid, or mucilaginous compounds. The artificial gums known
as "British gum," "soluble gum," "lciocome," dextrine," "gum
substitute," &c., or any other artificial gum that is soluble in ar
that will form with the liquids which I term my "body vehicles or
solvents" if heated therein viscid or mucilaginous compounds. All such
raw and torrefied starch or fecula, all such amylaceous flours (that is,
flours which are composed in part of starchy matter, like those of the
cerealia for instance), and all such raw and torrefied farina as are soluble
in or as will form with the liquids I term my "body vehicles or
solvents" if heated therein viscid, mucilaginous, or pasty compounds,
common or calcined biborate of soda, China clay, pipe clay, common
whiting, sulphate of lead, and oxide of zinc.
Coloring Materials.-I can give colors to my inks in the same way as
colour is given to ordinary oleaginous letter-press printing ink, viz., by
grinding up with the other ingredients under heat some finely pulverised
insoluble color or pigment. The salient feature however in connection
with this Invention is, that I am also able to use for that purpose the
coloring matters of most of the dye woods, dye stuffs, and tinctorial
materials which are used in the arts of dyeing and calico printing, as
well as the greater part of the astringent vegetable substances, mordants,
and reagents which are used in the said arts for producing, modifying, or
fixing colors, that is, I can use such of them as are soluble in or
miscible with the various ingrédients I employ for forming the body of
my inks. To summarise, I employ any animal; vegetable, or mineral
coloring material or any mordant or reagent that can be made (without
giving rise to prejudicial chemical reactions) either by solution, intimate
incorporation, or otherwise to give or to assist in giving color to the
ingredients which I use for forming the body of my inks.
The following particulars are in explanation of the process of manu-
facture:-
It should be understood at the outset that the degree of tenacity and
consistence to be given to an ink or varnish depends upon the purpose
for which such ink or varnish may be designed. Large and coarse work,
for instance, require ink of less tenacity and consistence than small and
fine work. Variation in the tenacity of my inks and varnishes can be

page_text: brought about readily by varying the ingredients or the proportions of
the ingredients composing them, for as regards the tenacity of the
compounds they yield with diluted or undiluted glycerine my "bodies"
differ widely.
The first step then in the manufacture of an ink must be to decide
upon the description of ink to be made, i.e., whether for large or small,
coarse or fine work; this being settled next fix upon the coloring
material or materials to be used, then select such one or more of the
"bodies" as can at least cost be made to form with the "body vehicle
or solvent" and the coloring material or materials an ink possessing
tenacity and consistence suited to the purpose for which it may be
required; the "body" or "bodies" selected should of course be such as
will mix with the coloring materials and with the other ingredients to be
used with them without giving rise to prejudicial chemical reactions.
Apropos of these chemical reactions I may mention that they are
chiefly to be guarded against when colors are employed which are
strongly acid or alkaline, or when mordants are used, and that they are
such as are in keeping with the laws of chemistry and the known
properties of the ingredients producing them. Owing to their variety
it is not possible for me here to lay down a particular rule for the
prevention of each one; suffice it then to say that the same reactions
are matters of daily experience with calico printers. in thickening their
colors and mordants, and that if the laws successfully acted upon by
them for their avoidance be put into practice in the case of my inks and
varnishes the same success will result; the most objectionable ways in
which these reactions manifest themselves are by rendering the body of
an ink, which without the offending ingredient would be all that could
be desired, either thin and limpid or thick and knotty, and by giving rise
to insoluble gritty precipitates.
The three considerations I have enumerated in the preceding para-
graph, viz., regard to economy, tenacity, and chemical compatibility, are
the main ones which govern me in selecting between my "bodies," but
there are a few subsidiary matters also to be taken into account.
Regard should be had to the intensity of the shade which it is desired
to obtain, for the less dense "bodies" will as a rule produce the
brightest and deepest colored inks; for instance, gum tragacanth, raw
starch, raw flour, or raw farina used as "bodies" will produce with the
same colors in many cases inks of more intense shades than gum arabic

page_text: or the artificial gums. Gum tragacanth may be stated to be at one end
of the scale and calcined farina at the other. It would require about
eight or nine pounds of the latter to give to one gallon of "body vehicle
or solvent" the same consistence as would be given to it by one pound
of gum tragacanth. Gum tragacanth, raw flour, raw starch, or raw
farina do not, however, of themselves possess sufficient body or binding
quality for making very tenacious inks, therefore in making inks which
are required to possess tenacity these should not be used alone, but to as
large an extent as possible in connection with some other more adhesive
"body" or "bodies;" the hue of the "body" must be considered too,
as colored "bodies" will injure delicate colors by adding to them their
own shade. It will not unfrequently happen that several of the "bodies"
or a variety of mixtures of them may be used with the same color or
coloring agents with equally good results in most respects; when it so
happens considerations of economy must decide between them.
•
Glycerine and its dilution.-I use both pure and crude glycerine, the
former chiefly for the better qualities of inks and varnishes and delicate
colors, and the latter in all cases in which the impurities it may contain
will not have a prejudicial action upon the other ingredients to be used
with it. Pure glycerine would answer all my purposes, but as the purer
the glycerine the more costly is it, economical considerations recommend
the use of the more or less crude in all possible cases. Of course the
density of the glycerine I employ will vary with the degree of purity.
In making inks and varnishes which are intended for fine work I use
either undiluted glycerine or glycerine diluted with from one to fifty
per cent. of water. If the ink or varnish is for large or coarse work, or
for any description of work that will permit of its being used thin, I
dilute the glycerine with from fifty to two hundred per cent. of water;
as a general rule the thinner the ink or varnish the more dilution will
the glycerine bear. I rarely, however, use glycerine diluted with more
than one hundred per cent. of water; inks and varnishes made with
glycerine which has been diluted with more than this need to be used
thin and sooner after manufacture. They will not keep so well as those
made with glycerine containing a less per-centage of water. In diluting
the glycerine my chief guiding principle is to use only sufficient glycerine
to prevent the ink or varnish drying too rapidly whilst in work. If too
large a proportion of water be used the ink or varnish dries upon the
surface being printed from and upon the rollers and clogs them By

page_text: increasing the proportion of glycerine the tendency of the ink or varnish
to evaporate in working is diminished, as glycerine does not, like water,
evaporate when exposed to atmospheric influences. It is best in most
cases to dilute the glycerine before mixing it with the "bodies." When
an aqueous solution of a colour, "body," or mordant is used an allowance
must be made for the water such solution may contain, that is, as much less
should be used in the dilution of the glycerine to be employed with it.
The "Bodies."-All the natural gums, excepting those of the traga-
canthine class, when used singly can be made to form inks and varnishes
possessing considerable tenacity and consistence. Gum senegal yields a
thicker and more tenacious mucilage than most of the other gums. It
is rarely that I employ gum tragacanth as a "body" alone, for while it
will in most cases produce inks of more vivacity or brilliancy of color
than any of the other "bodies," it does. not afford to. them the requisite
binding quality nor firmness. I obtain better results by associating
with it some of the denser "bodies." All the natural gums which I
use as "bodies," excepting gum tragacanth, may be employed in powder,.
and they can in this shape be dissolved by the aid of heat in the diluted
or undiluted glycerine with which they are to be used; or better, they
may be prepared for use by dissolving them in water, and afterwards
evaporating the solution to as thick a mucilage as possible. I prepare
gum tragacanth for use by first allowing it to dissolve or intumesce in
water, and then evaporating the resulting mucilage, the same as in the
case of other natural gums; if any grit or insoluble impurities exist in
the gums it is best to prepare them by solution, care being taken to
remove such impurities from the solution by decantation, straining, or
otherwise before evaporation.
Artificial Gums or Gum Substitutes.-Under this head I include all
the artificial gums however prepared. They are exceedingly useful
"bodies," as they can be made to form tenacious compounds with either
diluted or undiluted glycerine, and so the cases are comparatively rare
in which chemical incompatibility renders them unserviceable. For
tenacity I prefer the artificial gums prepared by torrefaction, particularly
torrefied wheaten starch; for colour those prepared by the acid or
diastase processes. Artificial gums prepared by torrefaction are generally
of a yellowish brown hue, and on this account are not so suitable for
inks of delicate tints as those prepared by the acid and diastase
processes, which are mostly of a pearly white colour, and which with

page_text: pure colorless glycerine can be made to produce inks of very delicate
tints. Artificial gums are produced either in powder, as syrupy solutions,
or in lumps resembling natural gums as to form, colour, &c. I can use
them in any of these shapes, but prefer the powder. Roasted or torrefied
flours, starches, and farina are included under the head of artificial
gums, &c. The compounds formed with either diluted or undiluted
glycerine and the raw flours, starches, and farina possess but little
tenacity. I use these "bodies" most for mixing with denser and more
tenacious "bodies," as in such cases they add to the intensity of many
colours. Fine powder is the shape in which I prefer to employ them.
Biborate of soda dissolved to saturation by the aid of heat in either
diluted or undiluted glycerine forms a beautiful transparent colourless
thick and somewhat viscid compound; by itself this body gives scarcely
sufficient tenacity for my purpose; it is mostly necessary to use with it
some natural or artificial gum. China clay, pipeclay, common whiting,
sulphate of lead, and oxide of zinc I employ as cheap adulterants, using
as much of them as possible with the other "bodies" to lessen cost of
production. It may be laid down as a general rule that when con-
siderations of chemical compatibility do not interfere I use the natural
gums (excepting those of the tragacanthine class) and the artificial
gums for giving tenacity, gum tragacanth and the raw flours, starches,
and farina for supplying "body" without much tenacity and for giving
intensity to colours, and the mineral bodies, excepting biborate of soda,.
as cheap adulterants.. Biborate of soda I employ for the sake of its
transparency. Although the compounds yielded by the artificial gums.
are not so tenacious as those yielded by the natural gums, they are:
sufficiently so for all ordinary purposes, and hence being cheaper I use
them in lieu of natural gums to as large an extent as possible; with.
some of the less tenacious artificial gums, however, I sometimes find it
necessary to use a small quantity of adhesive natural gum. In making
the better class of inks and varnishes I mostly use about nine parts by
weight of the tenacious to three of the color-improving ingredients.
When making commoner inks and varnishes, and such as. are not
required to possess much tenacity, I decrease the quantity of the
tenacity-giving ingredients, and use in their stead either more of the
colour-improving or some of the mineral adulterants, as circumstances
warrant; the changes of this sort that may be made are very numerous.
Then again there are the variations rendered necessary by the chemical
properties of some of the colouring materials or mordants or reagents;

page_text: as I have previously intimated, the laws which govern my selection of
"bodies" in such cases are identical with those which govern the calico
printer in the selection of his thickeners.
Colouring Materials.-By preference I use such colouring materials as
are soluble in either diluted or undiluted glycerine or in the mucilage
which is to form the body of the ink to be colored. Next to this class
of colouring materials I prefer such as are soluble in other menstrua
than those just mentioned, and which menstrua can be mixed with either
diluted or undiluted glycerine without giving rise to prejudicial chemical
reactions and without precipitating the colours. When I employ such
colours or pigments as cannot be used in the soluble state I finely
pulverize them, and add them before heating to the ingredients
which are to form the body of the ink, and thoroughly incorporate
them therewith by stirring and grinding in a manner similar to
what is practised in the manufacture of ordinary oleaginous printing
inks. In some few instances, such as for printing inks for cheques,
fugitive colours are useful. It is desirable, however, for most purposes
to select the colours or colouring materials to which the greatest per-
manence can be given in the simplest way. I use as far as is practicable
the same means for fixing or increasing the permanence of the colours of
my inks as are employed by calico printers in the case of their
colours.
The following is my modus operandi for making an ink suitable for
use în printing from fine relief surfaces:-Let me suppose that the
colour is to be an aniline colour, say, aniline purple, either the crystals
or a spirit solution of this colour may be employed. If the crystals be
used they may be mixed up with the other ingredients, and will be found
to dissolve readily therein on heating; if a spirit solution be used it has
but to be added to the other ingredients (before heating them) in
sufficient quantity to give the tint desired. However I prefer, when
practicable, to dissolve the crystals in the glycerine before diluting it,
and before mixing with it the "bodies." Nine parts of either British
gum or dextrine, three parts of either raw starch, raw flour, or raw
farina, and one part of gum senegal are suitable "bodies" and suitable
proportions to be employed in this instance, though by no means the
only mixture of my "bodies" that could be employed for the purpose
In this case for every avoirdupois pound of "body" I add about one
fluid pound of "body vehicle or solvent."

page_text: The following is the formula just given stated in more definite terms :--
Take an imperial half-gallon of glycerine and dissolve therein (using
heat to effect the solution if necessary) a sufficient quantity of the
crystals of aniline purple to produce the tint desired. After the colour
is dissolved dilute the solution with one imperial pint of soft or distilled
water; then take four and a half pounds (4 lbs.) avoirdupois of British
gum, one and a half pounds (1½ lbs.) avoirdupois of raw rice starch, and
half a pound (lb.) avoirdupois of gum senegal, all well pulverized;
mix the two former together in the dry state, dissolve the gum senegal
in water, rid the solution by decantation or otherwise of any insoluble
impurities it may contain, then evaporate it to as thick a mucilage as
possible, and add it to the solution of glycerine and colour; now mix
and grind all the ingredients together; this being done heat the
resulting compound in some suitable vessel to about 200° Fahrenheit,
maintain it at that heat for ten or twenty minutes, keeping the materials
well stirred during the time of applying heat; finally, re-grind the com-
pound so as to clear it of any lumps or clots which may have been
formed during the heating. After cooling the ink will be ready for use,
and will be found to be suitable for printing from fine relief surfaces,
and to "work" with a roller or rollers in a manner similar to the
oleaginous inks used by letter-press printers. It is not material what
kind of apparatus is used for heating and grinding, so long as the
materials are not burned and are well ground. The heating may be
done, say, in a copper pan over an open fire, or in a copper vessel fitted
with a steam jacket. The grinding may be done by such a mill as is
used for grinding colours and paints, or some such apparatus as that
which is used for grinding oleaginous printing inks.
"Bodies" Procured from Different Sources.-Artificial gums prepared
by different makers especially yield compounds of different degrees of
tenacity and consistence; like variations may also be caused by changes
of temperature. The remedy is simple. Should an ink or varnish after
cooling be found too thin for the purpose required add more of the
"body" or "bodies;" if too thick add more glycerine prepared by
colouring and dilution as at first, and so on, adding more of the ingre-
dients, which will supply the lacking quality. In every case after
adding fresh ingredients re-heat and re-grind as was done in the original
instance. To obviate the necessity of doing this it is well to test a small
quantity before mixing the bulk.

page_text: I can produce very rich coloured inks from the crystals and solutions
of aniline colours at a comparatively small cost, but without mordants
they are not fast enough for any but ephemeral purposes. Tannin is a
much used mordant for these colours, and one that can be employed in
connection with my inks; aided by heat it is readily dissolved in my
body vehicles or solvents," and whilst acting as a mordant will also
aid in giving to those liquids body and viscosity. The fixation is not
perfect unless the printing be steamed, as in calico printing.
86
The difference between my non-oleaginous printing inks and what I
term my non-oleaginous printing varnishes is, that in the former the
ingredients are coloured by the addition of some colouring material or
materials; in the latter they are uncoloured, that is, the varnishes are
made of the same ingredients and in the same way as the inks, omitting
the coloring materials. If what refers to colouring matter be left out,
the formula I have given for aniline purple ink may be taken also as the
formula for a varnish similar in quality to that ink. When I desire to
use my varnishes as vehicles for the printing on of mordants or reagents
I add the mordants or reagents to be used to the varnish after manu-
facture, and dissolve them therein by re-heating, or I dissolve them in the
diluted or undiluted glycerine before the process of manufacture, or in
other menstrua that will mix with diluted or undiluted glycerine and the
"bodies" without giving rise to prejudicial chemical reactions and
without precipitating the mordants, and then give body to heat, and
grind the solution thus obtained in the same way as if it were an ink,
and paying the same regard to the preservation of chemical compatibility
between the several ingredients used.
Inks and varnishes for common or large work are manufactured in a
similar manner to the ink for fine relief surface printing so far as the
mixing or mechanical part of the process is concerned. The difference
between them is only in consistence and tenacity, and this difference is
brought about by simply varying the ingredients or the proportions of
the ingredients of which they are composed. In the case of the aniline
purple ink the tinctorial material of itself gave the desired colour on
solution. With the extracts or colouring principles of many dye woods
and dye stuffs the case is otherwise. Some of the colours obtained from
them have to be developed or modified by means of mordants or
reagents. I need not enter fully upon an explanation of the operation of

page_text: mordants or reagents upon colouring materials of this kind, as it is a
matter well understood by dyers and calico printers.
I will explain my mode of procedure when using the class of colours
last referred to by taking in illustration the colour afforded by one of the
most known dye woods, viz., logwood. I employ both liquid and dry or
solid extracts of dye woods and dye stuffs. When I use a dry or solid
extract I ordinarily dissolve it in glycerine, treating it similarly to the
crystals of aniline purple; having done this I dilute the solution if
necessary, add suitable "bodies" thereto, and heat and grind the
resulting compound in the manner previously explained. When I
employ a liquid extract I proceed thus:-If I wish to make an ink
similar to the aniline purple ink already described, that is, an ink
suitable for fine relief surface printing, but of the natural colour (reddish
brown) yielded by logwood, I use the liquid extract of commerce of
about the strength of 12° Twaddle; with one part of such extract I mix
two parts of glycerine, then add suitable "bodies" thereto, and heat and
grind the resulting compound in the manner previously explained.
Both solid and liquid extracts of logwood can be made to produce inks
of different hues by incorporating with the ingredients forming the ink,
or by dissolving in the solution of extract and glycerine before adding
the "body" or "bodies" (applying heat to effect the solution if
necessary), certain mordants or reagents. Thus there will be produced
by the addition of acids red shades; by alkalies, purplish or violet blue
shades; or if added in excess, brownish yellow shades; shades of mauve,
peach, or plum by protochloride of tin; a variety of shades between
light purple and purple black with aluminous mordants; and between
lilac and black with ferruginous mordants; and other variations either
by using other mordants or reagents than these, by using two or more
mordants or reagents at the same time, or by the addition of some other
coloring material to that of the logwood. When employing liquid
mordants, such, for example, as red liquor (acetate of alumina) and iron
liquor (acetate of iron), I dilute the glycerine with the liquid mordants
instead of with water, and if for an ink dissolve therein a dry extract of
the color to be employed; then add suitable "bodies," and heat and
grind the resulting compound in the manner previously explained. If
for a varnish, excepting that the addition of coloring material is
omitted, I proceed in the same way as for an ink. When I use solid
mordants which are soluble in my "body vehicles or solvents," I mostly

page_text: prefer to dissolve them therein before adding the other ingredients, and
in such cases a proportionately less quantity of "body" is as a rule
required.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the modes in
which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not bind myself to the precise details herein given; they are what I
conceive to be the best, all things considered, for their several purposes;
deviations may, however, be made therefrom without in an important
manner marring the results.
What I claim is, the manufacture, substantially in the manners herein:
described, of such "Improved Non-oleaginous Printing Inks and Non-
oleaginous Printing Varnishes" as can be "distributed" and applied to
type and other relief printing surfaces by means of "rollers" and
balls," in like manner to ordinary oleaginous printing inks in letter-
press printing. Also the employment of the above-named inks and
varnishes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Chaplin May, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of April One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
WILLIAM CHAPLIN MAY. (L.S.)