A NEW COLORING MATTER, AND THE MEANS FOR OBTAINING THE SAME
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW
COLORING MATTER, AND THE MEANS FOR OBTAINING THE SAME."-A com-
munication from abroad by Louis Henry Obert, of 24, Rue Meslay,
Poria in the Empire of France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th July 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"A NEW COLORING MATTER, AND THE MEANS OF OBTAINING THE SAME," a com-
munication from abroad by Louis Henry Obert, of 24, Rue Meslay, Paris, in
the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of a new coloring matter of a
yellow tint obtained from vegetable substances, and which the Inventor terms
'panphiteic" acid.
This new acid is obtained by treating vegetable substances either in a

page_text: divided state or a decoction, or infusion of the same with concentrated or
diluted nitric acid, either alone or in conjunction with other mineral acids,
such as sulphuric or hydrochloric acids. The injurious effects of the excess of
the acids are mitigated by evaporation for a longer or shorter period, according
as the "coloring matter" is required in a fluid or pasty condition, or in a
crystalline form.
This acid coloring matter may be obtained from the roots of plants suitable
for fodder, and from all liguminous plants, and more particularly from those
of lucern, which contain a stiplic or astringent principle, and the decoction of
which has no effect upon salts of iron. All plants containing this principle
will produce the color required.
This coloring matter may also be obtained from the esparto, a decoction of
which contains a yellowish coloring matter, and which, upon the addition of
prussiate of potash, assumes a blue tint.
All plants, or those whose decoctions having properties similar to the before
mentioned, may be employed in the production of this new acid.
A decoction of the male flowers of the alder and of the hazel contain a
coloring matter of a fawn color, which assumes a dark green color on the
addition of salts of iron, such coloration being due to the presence of an
astringent principle, or what I call tannin in these flowers; and, there-
fore, my Invention is applicable to all vegetables which contain a tannin
capable of producing other than a blue color when brought in contact with
salts of iron, and which will produce a black color when mixed with logwood
and salts of iron.
This new coloring acid may also be obtained from the female flower of the
alder, the decoction of which contains a fawn-coloured coloring matter, and
which assumes a blue color with salts of iron, and consequently my Invention
is equally applicable to the treatment of gall nuts, sumac, and chesnut, and to
all vegetables containing what I term "blue tannin."
The new acid may also be obtained from logwood, and from other dye
woods whose decoctions possess the same properties.
Substances colored yellow with the new coloring matter assume shades of
grey when subjected to a bath of a decoction of logwood, with or without an
alkali; these greys are slightly changed by acids, but again recover their tint
when subjected to the action of alkalis. These tints when heightened by the
action of sulphuric acid and alkalis assume various gradations of color.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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 "A NEW COLORING MATTER, AND THE MEANS FOR OBTAINING THE
SAME," a communication from abroad by Louis Henry Obert, of 24, Rue
Meslay, Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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) :-
:-
The said Invention relates to the production of a new coloring matter
obtained from plants or vegetable substances of all kinds, and which new
coloring matter the Inventor calls panphiteic acid."
According to one method of carrying out this Invention the plants from
which this new acid is to be extracted are to be first treated in the manner
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Michael Heury on or
about the 14th of June 1860 (No. 1454). The decoctions resulting from such

page_text: treatment are after being separated from the insoluble matter or pulp are to
be placed in suitable vessels, to which decoctions nitric acid is to be added in
proportion to the density or strength of the resulting decoctions. After the
addition of nitric acid the solution is to be evaporated. The residuum so
obtained will contain panphiteic acid, and this residuum may be diluted or
dissolved in distilled or in acidulated water. Should it be desired to obtain
panphiteic acid in a state of purity, the solution may be re-evaporated and
Instead of
re-dissolved until the acid is obtained of the desired condition.
employing nitric acid as before mentioned, other acids and metallic or other
salts may be mixed therewith.
In order to obtain panphiteic acid in a fluid condition, evaporation need
only be carried to a degree sufficient to concentrate the solutions until the
desired strength is obtained. The resinous, albuminous, or other bodies which
are precipitated during the different processes produce also panphiteic acid
when they are treated in the same manner as the decoctions, as do also the
precipitates which are formed during the treatment of the plants, or during
the concentration of the decoctions.
A more economical process consists in treating the decoctions according to
the nature of the plants from which they are obtained with suitable acids or
metallic salts, either in combination or singly, and in such proportions as will
cause the resinous, albuminous, and other bodies to precipitate.
All other bodies possessing the property of promoting precipitation in such
solutions may be employed. The precipitates are collected on filters, and are
treated with hot or cold nitric acid, the precipitates being either in a moist or
in a dry state, pulverized, or otherwise. The quantity of acid to be employed
is in proportion to the state of dryness of the precipitates. According to the
nature of the precipitates, and the colors or shades it is desired to obtain, I add
to the nitric acid such other acid or metallic salts as will complete the process.
The same process is followed in manufacturing panphiteic acid from all
kinds of resins, gums, wax, in fact from all vegetable exudations.
The substances above referred to are to be dissolved in suitable solvents,
which may be alcohol, ether, ammonia, or bisulphuret of carbon; when the
solution has been effected it is submitted to the action of nitric acid alone, or
with such additions as are herein-before mentioned. On having first submitted
the herein-before mentioned substances to the said action of nitric acid, I then
exhaust them by means of alcohol, ether, ammonia, bisulphuret of carbon, or
any other solvent.
When panphiteic acid is thus obtained it may be purified by repeated
solution and evaporation according to the degree of purity desired. When

page_text: the before mentioned decoctions are separated from their precipitates they;
may be treated in the same manner as the precipitate. itself is operated upon..
By concentrating the decoctions, and with the addition of alkalis or of alkaline
salts to such of them as do not contain a sufficient quantity thereof, and by
treating them in the manner above described with acids and metallic salts, I
obtain a very pure mordant, which may be advantageously substituted for all.
those mordants hitherto used by dyers in the dyeing of animal substances.
The mordants of iron may be combined with these before-mentioned
mordants for those textile fabrics for which mordants of iron are now used.
Panphiteic acid may also be used as a mordant, as it also produces a yellow.
dye without the aid of any agent, and can be substituted for a mordant when-
ever a yellow ground is required.
When panphiteic acid is obtained from catechu, or plants similar to catechu,.
it colors vegetable substances yellow without the employment of any mordant.
Different colors may be obtained by combining panphiteic acid with other
coloring matters, and by the processes herein indicated a light green color
may be obtained.
In order to obtain a light green color equal quantities of prussiate of potash
and panphiteic acid are to be dissolved, either together or separately, and
subsequently mixed. It is optional in making this mixture whether panphiteic
acid or picric acid, or even both mixed together, be employed.
The solution must be more or less diluted, and silks or woollens acquire a
clear light green dye by simply dipping them in this acidulated bath without
the addition of any salts of iron. The simple addition of a sufficient quantity of
nitric or hydrochloric, or other acid, suffices in order to obtain those clear tints.
Panphiteic acid obtained from catechu and other similar products when
treated as above, dyes vegetable fibres green.
In order to obtain all the shades of dark green, I first immerse the fabrics
to be dyed in a bath containing salts of nitrate of iron. In order to prevent
the baths composed of the salts of iron from staining or spotting the fabrics to
be dyed, a very small quantity of sulphuric, muriatic, or other acid may be
added. These baths may be used either hot or cold, according to the nature
of the fabric to be dyed. It is evident that all yellow coloring matter which
will combine with the prussiate of potash will produce the same green dye.
The relative quantities of the different bodies which are mixed together may
vary "ad infinitum " according to the tint of green required.
Fabrics which have been dyed yellow by means of this new acid may be
made to assume all shades of grey by employing a bath of logwood, with or
without the addition of an alkali. Acids cause these greys to fade slightly, but

page_text: alkalis restore them to their original tint; by being subjected to the repeated
action of sulphuric acid and of alkalis these yellow tints may be heightened
several shades.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the application and use to and in the dying of fibrous substances of
the herein-before described coloring matter, which I term "panphiteic acid."
Second, the peculiar processes for obtaining the coloring matter, which I
term "panphiteic acid" from plants and vegetable substances generally, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.