IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLUE COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE FOR DYEING AND PRINTING
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Chambers Nicholson, of 9, Fenchurch Street,
in the City of London, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLUE COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE
FOR DYEING AND PRINTING."
Sealed the 24th July 1866, and dated the 19th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Chambers Nicholson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th April 1866.
I, EDWARD CHAMBERS NICHOLSON, of 9, Fenchurch Street, in the City of
London, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLUE COLORING MATTERS
SUITABLE FOR DYEING AND PRINTING," to be as follows:-
For this purpose I take "regina purple," a substance which dyes of a violet
or purple shade, and is a well-known article of commerce. I mix one part
by weight of this dye in a solid form with about two parts of commercial
aniline, and I subject the mixture to a temperature of about 360° Fahrenheit
in a suitable vessel of either iron, copper, or glass. I keep it at this tem-
perature, and continue the operation until a sample when dissolved in spirit
acidulated with acetic acid appears of a beautiful blue shade. The process is
then complete. The mixture can then be dissolved in methylated spirit
acidulated with acetic acid and used directly for dyeing and printing in the
same way as the ordinary aniline colors are employed; or the mixture can be

page_text: subjected to a current of steam in a distilling apparatus for the purpose of
removing the aniline, which in the proportions I have before mentioned is in
excess, and the blue dye which remains in the still can be treated according
to a former Patent granted to me, and dated the 24th June 1862 (No. 1857),
to obtain a blue color soluble in water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Chambers Nicholson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
CHAMBERS NICHOLSON, of 9, Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Chambers Nicholson, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Chambers Nicholson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BLUE COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE FOR
DYEING AND PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Chambers Nicholson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Edward Chambers Nicholson, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
For this purpose I take regina purple, a substance which dyes a violet
or purple shade, and is a well-known article of commerce.
I mix one part

page_text: by weight of this dye in a solid form with about two parts of commercial
aniline, and I subject the mixture to a temperature of about 360° Fahrenheit
in a suitable vessel of either iron, copper, or glass. I keep it at this tem-
perature and continue the operation until a sample when dissolved in spirit
acidulated with acetic acid appears of a beautiful blue shade. The process is
then complete. The operation may be conducted in an open vessel at about
the boiling point of the aniline, but care should be taken to avoid the rapid
boiling away of the aniline. From half an hour to one hour will usually be
the duration of the operation. The mixture, when cool, can then be dissolved
in methylated spirit acidulated with acetic acid and used directly for dyeing
and printing in the same way as the ordinary aniline colors are employed.
A commercial solution of a convenient strength may be formed by using four
gallons of methylated spirit to the pound of regina purple originally taken,
and a quarter of a pound of acetic acid of 90 per cent. may be used to acidu-
late this solution; or the mixture of regina purple and aniline, after it has
been heated as above described, may be subjected to a current of steam in a
distilling apparatus for the purpose of removing and recovering the aniline,
which in the proportions I have before mentioned is in excess, and the blue
die which remains in the still can be treated according to a former Patent
granted to me, and dated the 24th June 1862 (No. 1857), to obtain a blue
color soluble in water. I would remark that in using the name aniline I
employ it in its popular sense as including its homologues, commercial aniline
being, as is well known, a mixture of true aniline with toluidine and other
substances. These matters differ but slightly from true aniline and are with
difficulty separated from it:
What I claim is the manufacture of blue coloring matters suitable for
dyeing and printing by treating regina purple with aniline, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
EDWARD CHAMBERS NICHOLSON. (L.S.)