IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING COLORING MATTERS FOR DYEING AND PRINTING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Perkin, of Seymour Villa, Sudbury,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING COLORING MATTERS FOR DYEING AND PRINTING."
Sealed the 21st February 1865, and dated the 6th September 1864..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Perkin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,' on
the 6th September 1864.
I, WILLIAM HENRY PERKIN, of 'Seymour Villa, Sudbury, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PREPARING COLORING MATTERS FOR DYEING AND PRINTING," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in preparing coloring.
matters for dyeing and printing. For these purposes I take the substance
known as rosaniline, (the base obtained from the various salts of rosaniline,
generally known as roseine magenta, and also by other names,) or it may
be a basic salt or feeble combination of the said base, and mix it with the
compound or derivative obtained by the action of bromine or bromine water
on turpentine. Other derivatives of turpentine may also be employed, such
as the derivatives obtained by the action of chlorine and iodine on turpentine,
and also the derivatives of its isomers, such as oil of lavender and others. I,

page_text: however, in all cases prefer to employ the bromine derivatives. I then heat
the mixture by preference together with alcohol in a closed glass or glazed
vessel to a temperature of from 140° to 150° centigrade, and retain it at this
temperature for about eight hours. By this process colors varying between
blue and violet are obtained. I employ the substances by preference in the
proportion of six parts of rosaniline to four of brominated turpentine and
thirty of alcohol. If the proportions are varied, a different shade of color is.
produced, for instance, if a larger proportion of the brominated turpentine is
employed, then a color of a bluer shade is obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Perkin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY PERKIN, of Seymour Villa, Sudbury, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Perkin, Her special licence that I, the said.
William Henry Perkin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry Perkin, 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 PREPARING COLORING MATTERS FOR DYEING AND
PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Henry Perkin, 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 Henry Perkin, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: 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 improvements in preparing coloring:
matters for dyeing and printing. For these purposes I take the substance.
known as rosaniline, (the base obtained from the various salts of rosaniline,
generally known as roseine magenta, and also by other names, or it may be a
basic salt or feeble combination of the said base, and mix it with the com-:
pound or derivative obtained by the action of bromine or bromine water on
turpentine; the bromine derivatives of its isomers, such as oil of lavender and.
others, may also be employed. I then heat the mixture. by preference,
together with alcohol, wood naphtha, or methylated spirit, in a closed glass or
glazed vessel to a temperature of from 140° to 150° centigrade, and retain it.
at this temperature for about 8 hours. The following is the manner in which
I prefer to proceed:-If the object be to produce a blue .violet, I mix*
together, say, one part of brominated turpentine, one part of rosaniline, and
six parts of wood naphtha, methylated spirit, or alcohol, and I put the mixture
into an iron vessel well glazed on the inside, and furnished with a cover
glazed on the under side, and capable of being secured to the vessel by screws.
so as to close the vessel perfectly vapour-tight. The vessel with the mixture.in'
it being thus closed is heated to a temperature between 140° and 150°-
centigrade, and is kept at this heat for 8 hours or thereabouts. The vessel is
then allowed to cool, it is opened and the contents, when diluted with methy-
lated spirit or other convenient solvent, is ready for use, and these colours
may be employed in dyeing and printing in the same way as other aniline
dyes now well known. If a somewhat redder color be required than that
produced by the above process the proportions may be varied, three parts of
rosaniline, two parts of brominated turpentine, and fifteen parts of spirit
being employed, or the proportion of rosaniline may be somewhat further
increased if desired; or, on the other hand, if a bluer color be required than
that produced with equal parts of rosaniline and brominated turpentine, the
proportion of brominated turpentine may be somewhat increased. In place
of brominated turpentine, corresponding preparations of the isomers of oil of
turpentine may be employed; but this is not generally advisable, if for no
other reason on account of the increased expense. Amongst the isomers of
oil of turpentine most generally known are caoutchine and the oils of
lavender, orange, lemon, burgamot, savin or sabine, cubebs, and juniper.
After the oil of turpentine I believe the foreign oil of lavender to be most
suitable in a commercial point of view for use according to my Invention.
In places where it is difficult to obtain an iron vessel sufficiently well glazed

page_text: and fitted, strong glass tubes may be employed, the materials being sealed up.
in them. The temperature above named may be varied, but I believe not
advantageously. The time also during which the heat is maintained may be
lengthened or shortened. When working with a sealed glass tube if the
boiling is continued until no further change of color appears to take place it
will be sufficient; and when working with an iron vessel if the operator be
not perfectly familiar with the qualities of the materials or mixture it may
be desirable at the same time to treat a sample in a sealed glass tube as a
guide for the continuance of the heat to the iron vessel.
In preparing the brominated; turpentine I prefer to proceed in the following
manner: I take a half-gallon bottle (a Winchester quart) and fill it.half
full of water, I then pour in bromine until the bottom of the vessel is covered
to the depth of about an inch and a half. On the surface of the water I next
pour a thin layer, say, one-eighth of an inch thick, of oil of turpentine, and
afterwards I shake the bottle, at first carefully to avoid too violent an action.
When all the turpentine is absorbed I pour on another layer and proceed as
before, and so I go on until all the bromine is combined, as is seen by its
ceasing to color the water. The brominated turpentine sinks to the bottom
of the bottle. I pour off the water from it, and wash it to free it from acid,
first with a weak solution of potash, and then with water. Afterwards when
the water is poured off it is ready for use.
· Although I prefer to prepare the brominated turpentine in this manner it
may be otherwise prepared, as by dropping oil of turpentine into bromine
until there appears to be no further action, and then washing the product
with potash and water as before.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Perkin, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
W. a. PERKIN.
H.
(L.B.)