Chapter C: D E F are the four printing cylinders, named in the order of their (2)

The olive being given in a madder bath, and the ground well whitened (see MADDER), the cloth is padded in a weak buff mordant; and upon the parts that are to remain white, the weakest simple discharge No. 3. is printed-on by the cylinder; (in some works the discharge paste is applied and made dry before padding through the iron liquor;) the goods are cleared of the paste in a tepid chalky water, then dyed in a quercitron bath, containing a little glue, and cleared in a bran bath.

_Discharge mordants upon mordants_ may be regarded as a beautiful modification of the preceding style. _Example._

_A violet ground or impression, with red and white._

1. Pad with an acetate of iron of 1·004; or print-on with the cylinder, iron liquor of 1·027 thickened with British gum.

2. Print-on a red mordant, strongly acidulated with lime juice of 1·226.

3. Ground in the discharge No. 2.; dry.

4. Clear off the paste in chalky water.

5. Dung, madder, and brighten.

6. Ground-in the topical colours at pleasure.

V. China blues.

Take 16 pounds of coarsely ground indigo, and
4 pounds of sulphuret of arsenic; dissolve 22 pounds of sulphate
of iron in 6 gallons of water; introduce these three matters into the
indigo mill, and grind them for three days. If it be wished to have a
thickened blue, this mixture must have pounded gum added to it, but if
not, 5 gallons of water are added. This colour may be called blue No.
1.

The following table exhibits the different gradations of China blue:--

+--------+----------------------+----------------------+
|Course. |Quantity by measure of|Quantity by measure of|
| | No. 1. | water or mucilage. |
+--------+----------------------+----------------------+
| No. 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 3 | 10 | 2 |
| 4 | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | 2 | 12 |
| 9 | 2 | 14 |
| 10 | 2 | 16 |
| 11 | 2 | 18 |
| 12 | 2 | 20 |
+--------+----------------------+----------------------+

I shall now give examples of working this style by the block and cylinder:--

Impression of a single blue with small dots.

For the block, blue No. 5. thickened with starch.

For the cylinder, No. 4. thickened with gum.

_Impression of two different blues with the block._

First blue, No. 4. with starch.

Second blue, No. 9. with gum.

_Impression of three blues with the block._

First blue, No. 5. with starch.

Second blue, No. 7. with starch.

Third blue, No. 10. with gum.

After printing-on the blues, the pieces are hung up for two days in a dry and airy place, but not too dry; then they are dipped as follows:--Three vats are mounted, which may be distinguished by the numbers, 1., 2., 3.--

No. 1. 300 pounds of lime to 1,800 gallons of water.

No. 2. Solution of sulphate of iron of spec. grav. 1·048.

No. 3. Solution of caustic soda of spec. grav. 1·055; made from soda crystals, quicklime, and water, as usual.

The pieces being suspended on the frames, are to be dipped in the first vat, and left in it ten minutes; then withdrawn, drained for five minutes; next plunged into the second vat for ten minutes, and drained also for five, &c. These operations will be most intelligible when put into the form of a table:--

Dip in the 1st vat. During 10 minutes. Drain during 5 minutes.
2 -- --
1 -- --
2 -- --
3 -- --
2 -- --
1 -- --
2 -- --
1 -- --
2 -- --
3 -- --

In the dipping of China blues, care should be taken to swing the frames during the operation; and when the last dip is given, the piece is to be plunged upon its frame into a fourth vat, containing dilute sulphuric acid of spec. grav. 1·027. This immersion is for the purpose of removing the oxide of iron, deposited upon the calico in the alternate passages through the sulphate of iron and lime vats. They are then rinsed an hour in running water, and finally brightened in the above dilute sulphuric acid, slightly tepid. Sometimes they are subjected to a soap bath, at the temperature of 120°. By the addition of nitrate of lead to the indigo vat, the blue becomes more lively. Some use the roller dyeing apparatus for running the pieces through the respective baths instead of the square frames. (See WINCING.) But the frame-dip gives the most evenly dyes, and preserves the vats in good condition for a much longer time.

The various phenomena which occur in the dipping of China blues, are not difficult of explanation with the lights of modern chemistry. We have, on the one hand, indigo and sulphate of iron alternately applied to the cloth; by dipping it into the lime, the blue is deoxidized, because a film of the sulphate of iron is decomposed, and protoxide of iron comes forth to seize the oxygen of the indigo, to make it yellow-green, and soluble, at the same time, in lime-water. Then, it penetrates into the heart of the fibres, and, on exposure to air, absorbs oxygen, so as to become insoluble and fixed within their pores. On dipping the calico into the second vat of sulphate of iron, a layer of oxide is formed upon its whole surface, which oxide exercises an action only upon those parts that are covered with indigo, and deoxidizes a portion of it; thus rendering a second dose soluble by the intervention of the second dip in the lime-bath. Hence we see that while these alternate transitions go on, the same series of deoxidizement, solution, and re-oxidizement recurs; causing a progressively increasing fixation of indigo within the fibres of the cotton. A deposit of sulphate of lime and oxide of iron necessarily falls upon the cloth, for which reason the frame should be shaken in the lime water vat, to detach the sulphate; but, on the contrary, it should be held motionless in the copperas bath, to favour the deposition of as much protoxide upon it as possible. These circumstances serve to account for the various accidents which sometimes befall the China blue process. Thus the blues sometimes scale off, which may proceed from one of two causes:--1. If the goods are too dry before being dipped, the colour swells, and comes off in the vats, carrying along with it more or less indigo. 2. If the quantity of sulphate of lime formed upon the cloth be considerable, the crust will fall off, and take with it more or less of the blue; whence arise inequalities in the impression. The influence of temperature is important; when it falls too low, the colours take a gray cast. In this case it should be raised with steam.

VI. The decolouring or _enlevage_ style; not by the removal of the mordant, but the destruction of the dye. The acid, which is here mixed with the discharge paste, is intended to combine with the base of the chloride, and set the chlorine free to act upon the colour. Among the topical colours for this style are the following:--

1. _Black._--Take one gallon of iron liquor of spec. grav. 1·086.
One pound of starch; boil together, and while the paste
is hot, dissolve in it
One pound of tartaric acid in powder; and when cold, add
Two pounds of Prussian blue, prepared with muriatic acid,
see p. 226.
Two ounces of lamp black, with four ounces of oil.
2. _White discharge._--Take one gallon of water; in which dissolve
One pound and a half of oxalic acid,
Three pounds of tartaric acid; add
One gallon of lime juice of spec. grav. 1·22;
and thicken with
Twelve pounds of pipe clay, and six pounds of
gum.
3. _Chrome-green discharge._--
Take one gallon of water, thicken with 18 ounces of
starch; boil and dissolve in the hot paste
Two pounds and a half of powdered nitrate of lead,
One pound and a half of tartaric acid,
Two pounds of Prussian blue, as above.
4. _Blue discharge._--Take one gallon of water, thicken with
18 ounces of gum; while the boiled paste is hot,
dissolve in it
Two pounds of tartaric acid, and mix one pound
of Prussian blue.
5. _Chrome-yellow discharge._--This is the same as the chrome-green
given above, but without the Prussian blue.
6. _A white discharge on a blue ground_, requires the above white
discharge to be strengthened with 8 ounces of strong sulphuric acid,
per gallon.
7. _White discharge for Turkey red_ needs to be very strong.
Take one gallon of lime juice of sp. grav. 1·086; dissolve in it
Five pounds of tartaric acid; thicken with
Eight pounds of pipe-clay, four pounds of gum; then dissolve in the
mixture
Three pounds of muriate of tin in crystals; and add, finally,
Twenty-four ounces of sulphuric acid.
8. _Yellow discharge for Turkey red._--
Take one gallon of lime juice of spec. grav. 1·086; in which
dissolve
Four pounds of tartaric acid,
Four pounds of nitrate of lead; thicken the solution with
Six pounds of pipe-clay, and three pounds of gum.
9. _For green discharge_, add to the preceding 24 ounces of Prussian
blue, as above.

The decolouring or chlorine bath is usually formed of wood lined with lead, and has an area of about 5 feet square, with a depth of 6 feet. A square frame, mounted with a horizontal series of rollers at top and bottom, may be let down by cords, at pleasure, into the cistern. The pieces are introduced and guided in a serpentine path, round the upper and lower rollers alternately, by a cord.

This bath is filled with a solution of chloride of lime, of the spec. grav. 1·045, whose decolouring strength is 65° by Gay Lussac’s indigo chlorometer. It ought to be made turbid by stirring before putting in the goods, which should occupy three minutes in their passage. The piece is drawn through by a pair of squeezer cylinders at the end of the trough, opposite to that at which the piece enters. With black, white, and blue impressions of all shades, the goods are floated in a stream of water for an hour; then rinsed and dried. When there is yellow or green, the pieces must be steeped in water, then merely washed by the wince, and passed through solution of bichromate of potash, containing from 3 to 5 ounces of the salt per piece. Here the pieces are winced during 15 or 20 minutes, rinsed, and next passed through dilute muriatic acid to clear the ground; then rinsed and dried.

_Discharge by the intervention of the chromic acid._

After having dipped the pieces to the desired shade, they are padded in a solution of bichromate of potash; dried in the shade without heat; and then printed with the following mordant:--

Take 1 gallon of water; dissolve in it
2 pounds of oxalic and 1 pound of tartaric acid; thicken with
6 pounds of pipe clay, and 3 pounds of gum; lastly, add
8 ounces of muriatic acid.

After the impression, the pieces are winced in chalky water, at 120° F., then washed, and passed through a dilute sulphuric acid.

M. Daniel Kœchlin, of Mulhausen, the author of this very ingenious process, considers the action of the bichromate here as being analogous to that of the alkaline chlorides. At the moment that the block applies the preceding discharge to the bichromate dye, there is a sudden decoloration, and a production of a peculiar odour.

The pieces padded with the bichromate must be dried at a moderate temperature, and in the shade. Whenever watery solutions of chromate of potash and tartaric acid are mixed, an effervescence takes place, during which the mixture possesses the power of destroying vegetable colours. This property lasts no longer than the effervescence.

VII. _Steam colours._--This style combines a degree of brilliancy with solidity of colour, which can hardly be obtained in any other way, except by the chintz dyes. The steam apparatus, employed for fixing colours upon goods, may be distributed under five heads:--1. the column; 2. the lantern; 3. the cask; 4. the steam-chest; and, 5. the chamber.

The column is what is most generally used in this country. It is a hollow cylinder of copper, from three to five inches in diameter, and about 44 inches long, perforated over its whole surface with holes of about one sixteenth of an inch, placed about a quarter of an inch asunder. A circular plate, about 9 inches diameter, is soldered to the lower end of the column, destined to prevent the coil of cloth from sliding down off the cylinder. The lower end of the column terminates in a pipe, mounted with a stop-cock for regulating the admission of steam from the main steam-boiler of the factory. In some cases, the pipe fixed to the lower surface of the disc is made tapering, and fits into a conical socket, in a strong iron or copper box, fixed to a solid pedestal; the steam pipe enters into one side of that box, and is provided, of course, with a stop-cock. The condensed water of the column falls down into that chest, and may be let off by a descending tube and a stop-cock. In other forms of the column, the conical junction pipe is at its top, and fits there into an inverted socket connected with a steam chest, while the bottom has a very small tubular outlet, so that the steam may be exposed to a certain pressure in the column, when it is encased with cloth.

The pieces, after being printed with the topical colours presently to be described, and dried, are lapped round this column, but not in immediate contact with it; for the copper cylinder is first enveloped in a few coils of blanket stuff; then with several coils of white calico; next with the several pieces of the printed goods, stitched endwise; and lastly, with an outward mantle of white calico. In the course of the lapping and unlapping of such a length of webs, the cylinder is laid in a horizontal frame, in which it is made to revolve. In the act of steaming, however, it is fixed upright, by one of the methods above described. The steaming lasts for 20 or 30 minutes, according to the nature of the dyes; those which contain much solution of tin admit of less steaming. Whenever the steam is shut off, the goods must be immediately uncoiled, to prevent the chance of any aqueous condensation. I was much surprised, at first, on finding the unrolled pieces to be free from damp, and requiring only to be exposed for a few minutes in the air, to appear perfectly dry. Were water condensed during the process, it would be apt to make the colours run.

Steam colours are all topical, though, for many of them, the pieces are previously padded with mordants of various kinds. Some manufacturers run the goods before printing them through a weak solution of the perchloride of tin, with the view of brightening all the colours subsequently applied or raised upon them. I shall now illustrate steam calico-printing by some examples, kindly furnished me by a practical printer near Manchester, who conducts a great business with remarkable success.

_Steam blue._--Prussiate of potash, tartaric acid, and a little sulphuric acid, are dissolved in water, and thickened with starch; then applied by the cylinder, dried at a moderate heat, and steamed for 25 minutes. They are rinsed and dried after the steaming. The tartaric acid, at a high temperature, decomposes here a portion of the ferrocyanic acid, and fixes the remaining ferrocyanate of iron (Prussian blue) in the fibre of the cloth. The ground may have been previously padded and dyed; the acids will remove the mordant from the points to which the above paste has been applied, and bring out a bright blue upon them.

_Steam purple._--This topical colour is made by digesting acetate of alumina upon ground logwood with heat; straining, thickening with gum senegal, and applying the paste by the cylinder machine.

_Steam pink._--A decoction of Brazil-wood with a small quantity of the solution of muriate of tin, called, at Manchester, new tin crystals[15], and a little nitrate of copper to assist in fixing the colour; properly thickened, dried, and steamed for not more than 20 minutes, on account of the corrosive action of muriate of tin when the heat is too strong.

[15] This preparation is made by adding 3 libs. of sal ammoniac to 1
gallon of solution of tin (_see_ SCARLET DYE, and TIN), evaporating,
and crystallizing. The sal ammoniac seems to counteract the separation
of the tin by peroxidizement.

_Cochineal pink._--Acetate of alumina is mixed with decoction of cochineal, a little tartaric acid and solution of tin; then thickened with starch, dried, and steamed.

_Steam brown._--A mixed infusion of logwood, cochineal, and Persian berries, with cream of tartar, alum (or acetate of alumina), and a little tartaric acid, thickened, dried, and steamed.

_Green, blue, chocolate, with white ground, by steam._--Prussiate of potash and tartaric acid, thickened, for the blue; the same mixture with berry-liquor and acetate of alumina, thickened, for the green; extract of logwood with acetate of alumina and cream of tartar, thickened, for the chocolate. These three topical colours are applied at once by the three-colour cylinder machine; dried and steamed. Though greens are fixed by the steam, their colour is much improved by passing the cloth through solution of bichromate of potash.

In France, solution of tin is much used for steam colours.

VIII. _Spirit or Fancy colours._--These all owe their vivacity, as well as the moderate degree of permanency they possess, to their tin mordant. After printing-on the topical colour, the goods must be dried at a gentle heat, and passed merely through the rinsing machine. Purple, brown, or chocolate, red, green, yellow, blue, and white discharge; any five of these are printed on at once by the five-colour cylinder machine. See RINSING MACHINE.

_Chocolate_, is given by extract of Brazil-wood, extract of logwood, nitromuriate of tin, with a little nitrate of copper; all mixed, thickened, and merely printed-on.

_Red_, by extract of Brazil-wood and tin, with a little nitrate of copper.

_Green_, by prussiate of potash, with muriate of tin and acetate of lead, dissolved, thickened, and printed-on.

The goods after rinsing must be passed through solution of bichromate of potash, to convert the Prussian blue colour into green, by the formation of chrome yellow upon it.

_Blue._--Prussian blue ground up with solution (nitromuriate) of tin; thickened, &c.

_Yellow._--Nitrate of lead dissolved in solution of tartaric acid, thickened, tenderly dried, passed through the bichromate vat or padding machine, washed and dried.

This yellow is pretty fast; though topical, it can hardly, therefore, be called a fancy colour.

When _purple_ is to be inserted instead of the above blue, extract of logwood with tin is used in the place of the Prussian blue. Tartaric acid is a useful addition to tin in brightening fancy colours.

_Chocolate._--A good topical chocolate is made by digesting logwood with liquid acetate of alumina, adding a little cream of tartar to the infusion; thickening, applying by the cylinder, drying, washing, then passing through solution of bichromate of potash, which serves to darken and fix the colour.

I shall conclude my account of the printing of cotton goods with some miscellaneous formulæ, which were given me by skilful calico-printers in Lancashire.

_Prussian blue_ is prepared for topical printing by grinding it in a handmill, like that for grinding pepper or coffee, and triturating the powder with solution of muriate of tin.

_Green._--The deoxidized indigo vat liquor is mixed with a little pearlash, and thickened with gum. This is applied by the cylinder or block to goods previously padded with nitrate of lead; the goods, after being dried, are passed through milky lime-water, rinsed, and then winced or padded through the bichromate of potash bath.

_Another green._--Nitrate of lead, prussiate of potash, and tartaric acid, dissolved, and mixed with a little sulphate, nitrate, and muriate of iron; this mixture is either thickened for cylinder printing, or used in its liquid state in the padding trough. The goods subjected to one of these two processes are dried, padded in weak solution of carbonate of potash, which serves to precipitate the oxide of lead from the nitrate; they are finally padded with bichromate of potash, which induces a yellow upon the blue, constituting a green colour of any desired tint, according to the proportion of the materials.

_Chocolate and black, with white discharge; a fast colour._--The cloth is padded with acetate of alumina, and dried in the hot flue; it is then passed through a two-colour machine, the one cylinder of which prints-on lime-juice discharge, thickened with gum senegal; the other a black topical dye (made with logwood extract and iron liquor). The cloths are now hung up to be aired during a week, after which they are dunged, and dyed up with madder, fustic, and quercitron bark, heated with steam in the bath.

_Blue, white, and olive or chocolate._--1. Pad with the aluminous mordant; 2. Apply thickened lemon juice for discharge by the cylinder; 3. Dung the goods after they are thoroughly dried; 4. Pass them through the bath of madder, fustic, and quercitron, which dye a brown ground, and leave the discharge points white; then print-on a reserve paste of China clay and gum with sulphate of copper; dry, dip in the blue vat, which will communicate an olive tint to the brown ground; or a chocolate, if madder alone had been used.

When a black ground is desired, with white figures, the acid discharge paste should be printed-on by the cylinder, and dried before the piece is padded in the iron liquor. By following this plan the whites are much purer than when the iron is first applied.

_Green, black, white._--The black is first printed-on by a mixture of iron liquor, and infusion (not decoction) of logwood; then resist or reserve paste is applied by the block, and dried; after which the goods are blued in the indigo vat, rinsed, dried, passed through solution of acetate of lead; next, through milky lime water; lastly, through a very strong solution of bichromate of potash.

_Turkey red, black, yellow._--Upon Turkey red cloth, print with a strong solution of tartaric acid, mixed with solution of nitrate of lead, thickened with gum; dry. The cloth is now passed through the chloride of lime bath, washed, and chromed. Lastly, the black is printed-on by the block as above, with iron liquor and logwood.

_Black ground dotted white, with red or pink and black figures._--1. Print-on the lime juice discharge-paste by the cylinder; dry; 2. Then pad with iron liquor, containing a little acetate of alumina, and hang up the goods for a few days to fix the iron; 3. Dye in a logwood bath to which a little madder has been added; clear with bran. The red or pink is now put in by the block, with a mixture of extract of Brazil-wood, nitromuriate of tin, and nitrate of copper, as prescribed in a preceding formula.

_Orange or brown; black; white; pink._--The black is topical, as above; it is printed-on, as also the lemon-juice discharge and red mordant, with muriate of tin (both thickened), by the three-colour machine. Then, after drying the cloth, a single-cylinder machine is made to apply in diagonal lines to it a mixture of acetate of iron and alumina. The cloth, being dried and dunged, is next dyed in a bath of quercitron, madder, and fustic.

Here the orange is the result of the mordant of tin and alumina; the brown, of the alumina and iron; white, of the citric acid discharge. The tin mordant, wherever it has been applied, resists the weaker mordant impressed in the diagonal lines. The pink is blocked-on at the end.

_Orange brown, or aventurine; black and white._--The topical black (as above), and discharge lemon juice, are printed-on by the two-colour machine; then the cloth is subjected to the diagonal line cylinder, supplied with the alumino-iron mordant. The cloth is dried, dunged, and dyed in a bath of bark, madder, and fustic.

The manganese or _solitaire_ ground admits of a great variety of figures being easily brought upon it, because almost every acidulous mordant will dissolve the oxide of manganese from the spot to which it is applied, and insert its own base in its place; and of course, by dyeing such mordanted goods in various baths, any variety of coloured designs may be produced. Thus, if the paste of nitrate of lead and tartaric acid solution be applied, and the goods after drying be passed first through lime water, and then through a chrome bath, bright yellow spots will be made to appear upon the bronze ground.

_Manganese bronze, buff and green; all metallic colours._--Pad-on the manganese solution, and dry; apply the aceto-sulphate of iron, of spec. grav. 1·02, and Scheele’s green (both properly thickened), by the two-colour machine. The goods are next to be dried, and padded through a cold caustic lye of spec. grav. 1·086. They are then rinsed, and passed through a weak solution of chloride of lime, to raise the bronze, again rinsed, and passed through a solution of arsenious acid to raise the green.

Scheele’s green for the calico-printer is made as follows:--

Take 1 gallon of water, in which dissolve with heat,

5 pounds of sulphate of copper, and 1 pound of verdigris. When the two salts are dissolved, remove the kettle from the fire, and put into it 1 quart of solution of nitrate of copper, and 5 pounds of acetate of lead. Stir the mixture to facilitate the decomposition, and allow the pigment to subside.

It must be thickened with 2-1/2 libs. of gum per gallon, for pencilling; or 12 oz. of starch for the block. The goods printed with this paste are to be winced through a caustic lye, till a fine sky-blue be produced; then washed well and rinsed. They are now to be passed through water, containing from half an ounce to an ounce of white arsenic per piece; 4 turns are sufficient; if it be too long immersed, it will take a yellow tint.

Catechu has been considerably employed by calico-printers of late years, as it affords a fine permanent substantive brown, of the shade called _carmelite_ by the French. The following formula will exemplify its mode of application:--

Take 1 gallon of water;

1 pound of catechu in fine powder; reduce by boiling to half a gallon, pass the decoction through a fine sieve, and dissolve in it 4 ounces of verdigris; allow it then to cool, and thicken the solution with 5 ounces of starch; while the paste is hot, dissolve in it 5 ounces of pulverized muriate of ammonia.

Print-on this paste, dry, and wash. It is a fast colour.

I shall subjoin the prescriptions for two fancy cochineal printing colours.

_Amaranth by cochineal._--Pad the pieces in the aluminous mordant of spec. grav. 1·027, page 224.

Dry in the hot flue; and after hanging up the goods during 3 days, wince well through chalky water, and then dye, as follows:--

For each piece of 28 or 30 yards, 8 ounces of cochineal are to be made into a decoction of 2 gallons in bulk, which is to be poured into a kettle with a decoction of 3 ounces of galls, and with 2 ounces of bran. The pieces are to be entered, and winced as in the madder bath, during two hours and a half; then washed in the dash wheel. On mixing with the amaranth bath a certain quantity of logwood, very beautiful lilacs and violets may be obtained.

_Mixture of quercitron and cochineal._--Pad in the aluminous mordant, and dye with 2 libs. of quercitron, and 4 ounces of cochineal, when a capuchin colour will be obtained. If we pad with the following mordant; viz. 1 gallon of acetate of alumina of 1·056 spec. grav., and 1 of iron liquor of 1·02 spec. grav., and dye with 1 pound of quercitron, and 1 ounce of cochineal, we shall obtain a shade like boot-tops, of extreme vivacity.

Two ounces of cochineal will print a long piece of calico with rich pink figures, having acetate of alumina for a mordant. As the ground is hardly tinged by the dye, it neither needs nor admits of much clearing.

I have already mentioned that goods are sometimes padded with solution of perchloride of tin before printing-on them the steam colours, whereby they acquire both permanence and vivacity. I have also stated that the salts of tin at a high temperature are apt to corrode the fibre of the stuff, and therefore must be used with discretion. This danger is greatly lessened by adding to the perchloride of tin a sufficient quantity of caustic potash lye to form a stannate of potash. The goods are padded through this substance, diluted with water, dried with a moderate heat, and then immersed in very dilute sulphuric acid, which saturates the potash, and precipitates the tin oxide within the pores of the cloth. Calico thus prepared affords brilliant and permanent colours by the steam process, above described.

_Printing of silks or woollen stuffs, such as merinoes and mousselin de laine, as also of mixed stuffs of silk and wool, such as chalys._--All these prints are applied, not by the cylinder but the block, and are fixed by the application of steam in one of four ways; 1. By the _lanthorn_; 2. By the _cask_; 3. By the _chest_; or 4. By the _chamber_.

1. _By the lanthorn._--In this mode of exposure to steam, the goods are stretched upon a frame; and therefore the apparatus may be described under two heads; the lanthorn and the frame. The former is made of copper, in the shape of a box A B C D E, _fig._ 238., open below, and with a sloping roof above, to facilitate the trickling down of the water condensed upon the walls. The sides B C D E are 4-1/2 feet high, 6 feet long, and 4 feet wide. The distance of the point A from the line E B is 2 feet. At F is a brass socket, which may be stopped with a cork; and there is a similar one at the other side. This kind of penthouse may be raised by means of a pully with cords fixed to the four angles of the roof E B; and it rests upon the table G H, a little larger than the area of the box, which stands upon the four feet I K. Round the borders of the table there is a triangular groove _a b_, for receiving the lower edges of the box, and it is stuffed steam-tight with lists of cloth. Through the centre of the table, the two-inch steam pipe M passes; it is surmounted with an hemispherical rose pierced with numerous holes for the equal distribution of the steam. Right above it, a disc N is placed upon four feet. The tube L communicates with a box P, which has a syphon Q to let off the condensed water. At the upper part of this box the tube L terminates which brings the steam. The little table G H slopes towards the part G, where the syphon R is placed for drawing off the water.

The _frame_ has such dimensions, that it may stand in the four corners of the table at S S, as pointed out by the dotted lines. The second part embraces an open square frame, which is formed by spars of wood 2 inches square, mortised together; and is 3 feet 8 inches wide, 5 feet 8 inches long, and 4 feet 3 inches high; it is strengthened with cross bars. Upon the two sides of its breadth, two rows of round brass hooks are placed, about half an inch apart; they are soldered to a copper plate fixed to uprights by means of screws.

Before hanging up the goods, a piece of cloth 3 feet 8 inches long, and 4 feet wide, is placed upon the row of hooks; and 3 feet of it are left hanging out.

One foot within, the hooks pass through the cloth. A similar one is fitted to the other side. This cloth is intended to cover the goods hung upon the hooks; and it is kept straight by resting upon strings. The pieces are attached zig-zag from one hook to another. When the frame is filled, the bag is put within the cloths; it has the same rectangular shape as the frame. The pieces are in this way all encased in the cloth; a bit of it being also put beneath to prevent moisture affecting that part.

When shawls are framed, they are attached with pins; and if they be too large, they are doubled back to back, with the fringes at top.

These arrangements being made, the frame is set upon the table, the penthouse is placed over it, and the steam is admitted during from 35 to 45 minutes, according to circumstances. The orifice F is opened at first to let the air escape, and when it begins to discharge steam it is stopped. The frame is taken out at the proper time, the bag is removed, the cloths are lifted off, and the goods are spread out for airing. Three frames and six bags are required for a constant succession of work. The above apparatus is particularly suitable for silks.

2. _The drum._--This is the most simple mode of steaming. The apparatus is a drum of white wood, 2 inches thick, _fig._ 239.; the bottom is pierced with a hole which admits the steam-pipe F, terminating in a perforated rose. Four inches from the bottom there is a canvass partition E, intended to stop any drops of water projected from the tube F, and also to separate the condensed water from the body of the apparatus. The drum is covered in by a wooden head H, under which the goods are placed. It is made fast either by bolts, or by hooks, G G, thus [S], to which weighted cords are hung. The frame 1, _fig._ 240. rests upon a hoop, _a a_, a few inches from the edge. The goods are hung upon the frame in the ordinary way, and then wrapped round with flannel. The frame is studded with pin points, like that of the indigo vat, fixed about 5 inches asunder. From 20 to 30 minutes suffice for one steaming operation. The upper part of the frame must be covered also with flannels to prevent the deposition of moisture upon it. At the bottom of the drum there is a stopcock to let off the condensed water. According to the size of the figure, which is 3 feet 2 inches, 50 yards may be hung up single; but they may be doubled on occasion.

3. _The box._--This steaming apparatus is convenient from the large quantity of goods admissible at a time: it answers best for woollen stuffs. From 12 to 16 pieces, of 36 yards each, may be operated upon at once; and from 240 to 260 shawls. It is formed of a deal box, A B C D, _fig._ 241., 4 feet wide, 6 long, and 3 high; the wood being 4 inches thick. It is closed by a cover of the same substance, I, which is made steam-tight at the edges by a list of felt. The lid is fastened down by 5 cross bars of iron, _a a a a a_, which are secured by screws, _c c c c c_, _fig._ 242. The ends of these cross bars are let into the notches, _b b b b b_, on the edge of the box. The safety valve M, _fig._ 241., is placed upon the lid. For taking off the lid, there are rings at the four corners, _d d d d_, bearing cords, F F F F. These join at the centre into one, which passes over a pulley. Eight inches from the bottom of the box there is a horizontal canvass partition, beneath which the steam is discharged from the pipe L, _fig._ 243. There are two ledges, E F G H, at the sides for receiving the bobbins. The tube L runs round the box, as shown by the letters _d a e b_: the end _d_ is shut; but the side and top are perforated with many holes in the direction towards the centre of the box. _Fig._ 244. shows the arrangement of the lower set of bobbins: that of the upper set is shown by the dotted lines: it is seen to be in an alternate position, one lying between two others. They are formed of pieces of deal 4 inches broad, 1 inch thick, and of a length equal to the width of the box. They are first wrapped round with 5 or 6 turns of doubled flannel or calico: the piece of goods is laid over it upon a table, and then wrapped round. At the end of the piece, several folds of the covering must be put, as, also, a roll of flannel. The two ends must be slightly tied with packthread. When these flat bobbins are arranged in the box, the steam is let on them, and continued about 45 minutes: it is then shut off, the lid is removed, and the pieces are unrolled.

4. _The chamber._--The interior height of the chamber, A B C D, _fig._ 245., is 9 feet, the length 12 feet, and the breadth 9 feet. The steam is introduced into it by two pipes, _a b c_, _d e f_. Their two ends, _d c_, are shut; but their sides are all along perforated with small holes. The frames E F G H, E F G H, are moveable, and run upon rollers: they are taken out by front doors, which are made of strong planks, shut by sliding in slots, and are secured by strong iron bars and pressure screws. The cross rods, E F G H, are provided with hooks for hanging up the pieces. There is a safety-valve in the top of this large chamber. The dimensions of the frame are 10 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 7 high. Three feet and a half from the upper part of the frame, a row of hooks is fixed for hanging on a double row of pieces, as shown in the figure. Over the frame, woollen blankets are laid to protect it from drops of water that might fall from the roof of the chamber. When the hooks are two thirds of an inch apart, 24 pieces, of 28 yards each, may be suspended at once. The period of steaming is from 45 to 60 minutes.

Muslins and silks do not require so high a temperature as woollen goods. When the stuffs are padded with colour, like merinos and chalys, they must not be folded together, for fear of stains, which are sometimes occasioned by the column in steam calico-printing, where the end which receives the first impression of the steam is seldom of the same shade as the rest of the roll of goods. The duration of the steaming depends upon the quantity of acid in the mordant, and of saline solution in the topical colour; the more of which are present, the shorter should be the steaming period. A dry vapour is requisite in all cases; for when it becomes moist, from a feeble supply or external condensation, the goods become streaky or stained by the spreading of the colours.

1. _Black figures_ are given by decoction of logwood thickened with starch, to which a little oxalic acid is added while hot, and, after it is cold, neutralised solution of nitrate of iron.

2. _Dark blue for a ground._--Decoction of logwood, and archil thickened with starch; to which, while the paste is hot, a little soluble Prussian blue is added; and, when it is cold, neutralised nitrate of iron; see _supra._

3. _Deep poppy or ponceau colour._--Cochineal boiled in starch water, with oxalic acid (or tartaric), and perchloride of tin.

4. _Rose._--Cochineal infusion; oxalic acid; perchloride of tin; thickened with gum.

5. _Dark amaranth._--Decoctions of archil and cochineal, thickened with starch: to the paste, alum and perchloride of tin are added.

6. _Capuchin colour._--Quercitron and cochineal thickened with starch; to the paste add oxalic acid, and perchloride of tin.

7. _Annotto orange._--Dissolve the annotto in soda lye, of spec. grav. 1·07, at a boiling heat; add aluminate of soda, and thicken with gum.

8. _Golden yellow._--Decoction of Persian berries thickened with starch; to which some alum and muriate of tin are added, with a little perchloride of tin and oxalic acid.

9. _Lemon yellow._--Persian berries; starch; alum.

10. An ammoniacal solution of cochineal is used for making many violet and mallow colours. It is prepared by infusing cochineal in water of ammonia for 24 hours; then diluting with water, heating to ebullition, and straining.

11. _Fine violet_ is given by ammoniacal cochineal, with alum and oxalic acid; to which a little aceto-sulphate of indigo is added, and gum for thickening. The following blue may be used instead of the solution of indigo. The _mallow_ tint is given by adding a little perchloride of tin to the above formula, and leaving out the blue.

12. _Dark blue._--Soluble Prussian blue; tartaric acid; alum; thicken with gum.

13. _Emerald green._--One quart of decoction, equivalent to 1 pound of Persian berries; 1 quart of infusion of quercitron, of spec. grav. 1·027; in which dissolve 12 ounces of alum in powder; and add 6 ounces of the following blue bath for greens; thicken with 20 ounces of gum.

14. Blue bath for greens. Half a gallon of water at 140° F., 1 pound of soluble Prussian blue, 3 ounces of tartaric acid, and 2 ounces of alum.

I. _Printing of Silks._--1. _Of the madder style._ This is one of the most difficult to execute, requiring both much skill and experience. The first step is the removal of the gum. A copper being nearly filled with water, the pieces, tied up in a linen bag, are put into it, with a quarter of a pound of soap for every pound of silk, and are boiled for 3 hours. If the silk be Indian, half an ounce of soda crystals must be added. When the goods are taken out, they are rinsed in the river, then passed through water at 140° F., holding 8 ounces of crystallised soda in solution, as a scourer. They are next rinsed in cold water, and steeped in water very faintly acidulated with sulphuric acid, during 4 hours, then rinsed, and dried.

_Preparation of Mordants._--1 gallon of boiling water; 2 pounds of alum; dissolve:

1 pound of acetate of lead; 4 ounces of sal-ammoniac; 1 of chalk; mix well together; after decomposition and subsidence, draw off clear.

1. _Red._--1 gallon of the above mordant, thickened with 14 ounces of starch, and tinged with decoction of Brazil wood. If dark red be wanted, dissolve, in a gallon of the above red, 4 ounces of sulphate of copper.

2. _Black._--1 gallon of iron liquor, of 1·056 spec. grav.; thicken with 14 ounces of starch; and dissolve in the hot paste 2 ounces of sulphate of copper.

3. _Violet._ Take 1 gallon of iron liquor of 1·04 spec. grav.;
2 ounces of cream of tartar; 2 ounces of nitre; 2 ounces
of copperas;
1 ounce of alum: dissolve, and mix the solution with
1 gallon of gum water, containing 6 libs. of gum.

4. _Puce._ Half a gallon of red mordant; half a gallon of iron liquor
of 1·07;
7 ounces of starch for thickening colour with logwood.

_Manipulation of the above colours._--Print-on the black, then the puce, next the violet, and, lastly the red. Dry in the hot flue, and, 48 hours after the impression, wash away the paste. The copper employed for dyeing is of a square form: a boil is given with bran, at the rate of 4 libs. per piece of the _foulards_: cold water is added to lower the temperature to 130° F. The pieces must be entered with the printed surface undermost, and winced for half an hour, taking care to keep them expanded and well covered with the liquor: they are then taken out and rinsed. When grounds are to be made on the foulards, 2 ounces of sumach must be added per piece.

_Maddering._--Suppose 48 pieces are to be grounded with madder. 12 pounds of madder must be put into the copper, 1 pound of sumach, and 6 pounds of bran; the bath must be tepid when the pieces are entered: it must be heated to 104° F. in 20 minutes, and to the boiling point in an hour and a half. The goods must be briskly winced all the time, and finally turned out into cold water.

When they come out of the madder bath they are much loaded with colour. They are cleared by a boil of half an hour in bran, then turned out into cold water, and rinsed. A copper must be now mounted with 3 pounds of soap, 1 ounce of solution of tin, and 2 pailsful of bran, in which the goods are to be boiled for half an hour, then rinsed, and passed through a very dilute sulphuric acid bath. Then rinse, and dry. By following this process a light salmon ground is obtained.

II. _Steam colours upon silk._--The same plan of operations may be adopted here as is described for calico-printing; the main difference being in the method of mordanting the stuffs. After boiling in soap water, in the proportion of 4 ounces per pound of silk, the goods are washed in cold water, and then in hot water at 140°; they are next rinsed, passed through weak sulphuric acid, rinsed, squeezed between rollers, and afterwards steeped in a bath containing 8 ounces of alum per gallon, where they remain for four hours, with occasionally wincing. They are now rinsed, and dried. The subsequent treatment resembles that of steam-colour printed cottons.

_Black._--Take a gallon of decoction, made with 4 libs. of logwood,
with which
14 ounces of starch are to be combined: mix in
2 ounces of powdered nut-galls: boil, and pour the colour
into a pipkin containing
2 ounces of tartaric acid; 2 ounces of oxalic, both in
powder, and
2 ounces of olive oil. Stir the colour till it is cold, and
add
8 ounces of nitrate of iron, and 4 ounces of nitrate of
copper.

The red, violet, lilac, yellow colours, &c. are the same as for steam colours upon cotton. Topical colours are also applied without mordanting the silk beforehand. In this case a little muriate of tin is introduced. Thus, for

_Yellow._--Take 1 gallon of a decoction, made with 4 libs. of Persian
berries: dissolve in it 8 ounces of salt of tin (muriate),
and 4 ounces of the nitro-muriatic solution of tin. Thicken
with 2 pounds of gum.

_Printing of foulard pieces._ The tables which serve for the impression of silk goods are so constructed as to receive them in their full breadth. Towards the part between the colour or sieve tub and the table, the roller is mounted upon which the piece is wound. This roller, A B, _fig._ 246., has a groove, C, cut out parallel to its axis. Into this a bar is pressed, which fixes the end of the piece. The head, B, of the roller is pierced with several holes, in which an iron pin passes for stopping its rotation at any point, as is shown at B. At the other end of the table there is placed a comb, _fig._ 247., which is supported by pivots A B at its ends. The teeth of the comb are on a level with the cloth.

The piece is arranged for printing as follows:--It is unwound, and its end is brought upon the teeth of the comb, and made to pass into them by slight taps with a brush. It is now stretched, by turning round the roller, and fixing it by the pin-handle. After tracing the outline, the printing blocks are applied. Care should be taken, in the course of printing, always to fix the teeth of the comb in the middle line between two handkerchiefs. The operation of grounding-in is much facilitated by this plan of extension.

The pieces are washed in running water, and must be rapidly dried. The subsequent dressing is given by gum tragacanth: they are dried upon a stretching frame, and then folded up for the market.

III. _Mandarining of silk stuffs and chalys._--This style of printing depends upon the property which nitric acid possesses of giving to silk and woollen stuffs a yellow colour.

The first step is the scouring with a soap boil, as already described.

The designs are printed-on as also above described.

The swimming or colour-tub is usually double, and serves for two tables; instead of being placed, therefore, at the end of the table, it is put between two, and, consequently, behind the printer. It is formed of a copper chest, _fig._ 248., A B C D, in which steam may circulate, introduced by the pipe I; the excess being allowed to escape by the tube J, as also the water of condensation. The frame is placed in the hollow box K K. Between two such frames there is a plate of copper, L, which closes the box; it serves for laying the plates in order to keep them hot. At E and H are prolongations of the box, in which are set the vessels F G for holding the reserve paste.

_Preparation of the reserve or resist paste._--Melt in a kettle 2-1/2 libs. of rosin; 1 lib. of suet: mix well, and put it into the basins F G. By means of steam the reserve is kept melted, as well as the false colour upon which the sieve floats. The piece of silk being laid upon the table, and the reserve spread upon the frame, the printer heats his block, which should be mounted with lead, if the pattern will permit, upon the little table L. He takes up the colour from the frame, and transfers it instantly to the piece. He must strike the block lightly, and then lift it, lest, by its cooling, it might stick to the silk. When the table pattern is completed, he dusts it over with sand, and proceeds to another portion of the silk. The piece must not be taken out of the stretch till it is quite dry, which requires usually 6 hours. Let us consider first the most common case, that of a white upon an orange ground. We shall afterwards describe the other styles, which may be obtained by this process. The piece, being printed and dry, must next be subjected to the _mandarining_ operation.

The apparatus here employed consists of a sandstone trough A B C D, _fig._ 249. Upon the two sides, A C, B D, of this trough are fixed two wooden planks, pierced with a hole an inch from the bottom to receive the roller E, under which the piece passes. In this trough the acid mixture is put. That trough is put into a wooden or copper trough, F G H I. Into the latter, water is put, which is heated by means of steam, or a convenient furnace. Before and behind are placed two winces, or reels, K L: one serves to guide the piece in entering into the trough, and the other in its leaving it. The piece falls immediately into a stream of cold water, or, failing that, into a large back, containing a mixture of chalk and water. The two winces are moved by handles: the velocity is proportioned to the action of the acid. The wince L ought to be higher than K, to allow the acid to drain off. _Fig._ 250. shows a section of the apparatus.

The temperature of the acid mixture ought to be maintained between 95° and 100° F.; for if it be raised higher, the resist would run the risk of melting, and the impression would become irregular and blotty.

The proportions of the acid mixture are the following:--1 gallon of water; and 1 gallon of nitric acid, of spec. grav. 1·288, which may be increased with the strength of the silk. It should be a little weaker for chalys. For the strong greens it may be 2 measures of acid of 1·288 to 1 measure of water. The duration of the passage through the acid should be 1 minute at most.

_Mixture of orange colour, and clearing away of the resist._--The goods, on coming out of the mandarining apparatus, are rinsed in running water; then boiled in soap water, quickened with a little soda, at the rate of 2 libs. of the former and 4 oz. of the latter for a piece of 30 yards. They must be worked by the wince for half an hour. They are now rinsed in cold water, then passed through hot, again rinsed, and dried. I shall give some examples of the mode of manufacture, which is undoubtedly one of the most curious applications of chemical ingenuity.

1. _Orange ground with white figures._

(1.) Print-on the fat reserve; (2.) mandarine; (3.) brighten the orange, and clear.

2. _Orange ground, with blue figures._