IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING CERTAIN COLORS ON COTTON, LINEN, AND SILK FABRICS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Albert Gatty, of Accrington, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING CERTAIN COLORS ON COTTON, LINEN, AND SILK
FABRICS."
Sealed the 7th January 1859, and dated the 17th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Albert Gatty
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th November 1858.
I, FREDERICK ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING CERTAIN COLORS ON COTTON, LINEN, AND SILK
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to madder reds and madder pinks produced by the
steaming process, and they consist in the application of acetic acid or other
volatile organic acids in combination with the coloring matter of madder, and a
salt or salts of alumina as a means of fixing the said colors, by steaming, on
cotton, linen, and silk fabrics; after steaming, the fabrics are washed, and
may be brightened by passing them through soap water.
5
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Albert Gatty in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Frederick Albert Gatty, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederick Albert Gatty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederick Albert Gatty, 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 PRODUCING CERTAIN COLORS ON COTTON, LINEN,
AND SILK FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Frederick Albert Gatty, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 Frederick Albert Gatty, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the application of acetic or pyrolignous acid as a
means of fixing the coloring matter of madder in combination with a salt of
alumina on cotton, linen, and silk fabrics, for the purpose of producing red
and pink colors thercon by the steaming process.
In performing my Invention, I make a concentrated solution of the coloring
matter of madder by infusing 'garancine, fleur de garance, or any other
substance or extract containing the coloring matter of madder for about a
quarter of an hour in boiling acetic or pyrolignous acid, and then filter and
press it while still hot. I prefer to use substances containing the coloring
matter a concentrated state, in order to have less bulk to act upon. When
an extract is used of about fifteen times the strength of madder, I find it
requires from twelve to fifteen times its weight of acetic or pyrolignous acid
at twelve degrees of Twaddle's hydrometer to form a concentrated solution.
In place of acetic or pyrolignous acid alone, a mixture of the said acids with
alcohol, pyrolignous spirit, or acetone may be used. To obtain a red color the
concentrated solution of the coloring matter is thickened with gum or any

page_text: other suitable thickening substance, and for every gallon of the solution one
pint of acetate of alumina, commonly called red liquor, at ten degrees of
Twaddle's hydrometer is added. For pinks or pale reds, the above color is
reduced in strength by adding a certain quantity of gum water, according to
the shade of color required. When a pure coloring matter of madder is used,
say from twenty-five to thirty times the strength of madder, it is not necessary
to make a hot solution of it in the acetic acid; it is then sufficient to grind it
with a small quantity of water, and mix it with the acetic acid and the acetate
of alumina, previously thickened with gum or other thickening substance. In
this case I use half a pound of the extract for one gallon of acetic acid, and one
pint of the acetate of alumina, at ten degrees of Twaddle's hydrometer. After
the cotton, linen, or silk fabric has been printed with any of the above-named
colors, it is steamed and washed in the ordinary way, as is well understood by
printers and dyers. If it is desired to have the colors brighter than they are
after ordinary washing, they may be brightened by passing them in boiling
soap water.
Having now stated the nature and described the manner in which I prefer
to perform my Invention, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact proportions given, nor to the strength of the ingredients,
nor to the mode of combining them together; but what I claim as my Inven-
tion is, the application of acetic or pyrolignous acid as a means of fixing on
cotton, linen, and silk fabrics, the coloring matter of madder in combination
with alumina, thereby obtaining madder red and madder pink colors, by the
steaming process, as described above.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Albert Gatty, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
F. A. GATTY. (L.S.)