IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF BLUE COLORS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Astley Paston Price, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF BLUE COLORS."―A
communication from abroad by Augustus Eisenlohr, of Heidelberg, in
the Grand Duchy of Baden, Doctor of Philosophy.
Sealed the 27th May 1863, and dated the 10th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said .Astley Paston Price
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th December 1862.
I, ASTLEY PASTON PRICE, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middle-
sex, Consulting Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF BLUE COLORS," a
communication from abroad by Augustus Eisenlohr, of Heidelberg, in the
Grand Duchy of Baden, Doctor of Philosophy, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the preparation of blue colors, which are
obtained as follows:-I take a compound of aniline, consisting of aniline
combined in equivalent proportions with any of the following acids, namely,
acetic, citric, succinic, racemic, malic, valerianic, lactic, benzoic, cinnamic,
carbolic, tartaric, and oxalic acids, such compounds being either obtained by
or resulting from direct combination of equivalent quantities of acid and base,
or obtained by means of or resulting from double chemical decomposition, as

page_text: is well understood by chemists, and I mix any one of these compounds so
resulting or obtained, or mixtures of them, with the substance known in
Germany and France as fuchsine, and corresponding to those products obtained
from aniline and known in this country as magenta and roseaniline, and I
heat the same together until the desired blue color free from violet is produced.
The fused mass resulting from the foregoing operation is then washed with
water, and if necessary is treated with sulphuric acid and water, or with any
other suitable acid and water to remove some impurities from the product.
The coloring matter obtained may be dissolved in alcohol, or in any other
suitable solvent, and is applicable for dyeing and printing purposes. Should
the mixture of the before-mentioned substances be employed in a state of
solution, or in a moist condition, then the mixture is to be carefully subjected
to the action of heat previous to being fused; should the materials herein-
before mentioned, however, be employed in a state of powder, then, if necessary,
they may be moistened with alcohol, or with any other suitable solvent or fluid,
previous to being fused, in order to facilitate their admixture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Astley Paston Price in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ASTLEY
PASTON PRICE, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Astley Paston Price, Her special license that I, the said Astley
Paston Price, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Astley Paston Price, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF COLORS," a communication
from abroad by Augustus Eisenlohr, of Heidelberg, in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, Doctor of Philosophy, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the

page_text: said Astley Paston Price, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of
them, 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 Astley Paston Price, 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 has for its object the preparation of blue colors, which
are obtained as follows:-I take a compound or combination of aniline con-
sisting of aniline combined in equivalent proportions with any of the following
acids namely, acetic, valerianic, lactic, benzoic, cinnamic, tartaric, and oxalic
acids, such compounds being either obtained by or resulting from direct com-
bination of equivalent proportions of acid and aniline, or obtained by means
of or resulting from double chemical decomposition, as is well understood by
chemists, and I mix any one of these compounds or combinations so resulting
or obtained, or mixtures of them, with the substance known in Germany and
France as fuchsine, and corresponding with those products obtained from
aniline known in this country as magenta and roseaniline, and I heat the
same together, by preference, at a temperature of from one hundred and fifty
degrees to one hundred and ninety degrees centigrade, until the desired blue
color free from violet is produced. I have found the following proportions
produce good results:-To every three parts or equivalents of aniline con-
tained in the salts of aniline before mentioned I add one part or equivalent of
fuchsine, magenta, or roseaniline, and after having well incorporated the
mixture of these substances the mixture is placed in a suitable vessel (and
I prefer the vessel to be partially closed), and subjected to a temperature, by
preference, varying between one hundred and fifty degrees and one hundred
and ninety degrees centigrade, this temperature being maintained until the
desired blue color is produced, which is ascertained by withdrawing a portion
of the fused mass from time to time, and placing the same in contact with a
suitable solvent of the blue color, such as alcohol. The fused mass is then
withdrawn and allowed to cool, and is afterwards washed with water, and if
necessary with sulphuric or other suitable acid and water to remove impurities
from the product. The coloring matter may then be dissolved out of the
residue by means of alcohol, or by any other suitable solvent, and is applicable
for dyeing and printing purposes.

page_text: Although I have given the proportions which I have found in practice most
advantageous to the production of the desired blue color, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to them; but what I claim as my Invention
is, the subjecting any of the salts of aniline herein-before mentioned, or mix-
tures of the same, in combination with roseaniline, fuchsine, or magenta, to a
temperature sufficiently elevated and for a period sufficiently prolonged to
produce the desired blue color.
In witness whereof, I, the said Astley Paston Price, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, One thousand eight hun-
dred and sixty-three.
ASTLEY PASTON PRICE. (L.S.)