Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 147 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891.

Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 147 pages of information about Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891.

Other dyestuffs, like camwood, brazilwood, and their allies, also young fustic, give always fugitive colors whatever mordant be employed; others again, e.g., weld, old fustic, quercitron bark, flavin, and Persian berries, give fast colors with some mordants and fugitive colors with others; compare, for example, the fast olives of the chromium, copper, and iron mordants with the fugitive yellows given by aluminum and tin.  A still more striking case is presented by logwood, which gives a fast greenish-black with copper and very fugitive colors with aluminum and tin.  Other experiments have shown that the chromium and iron logwood blacks hold an intermediate position.  Abnormal properties are found to be exhibited by camwood and its allies, with aluminum and tin, the colors at first becoming darker, and only afterward fading in the normal manner.

When we examine the silk patterns, we find, generally speaking, a similar degree of fastness among the various natural dyes, as with wool; in some instances the colors appear even faster, notice, for example, the catechu brown and the colors given by brazilwood and its allies, with iron mordant.

On examining the cotton patterns, we are at once struck with the marked fugitive character of nearly all the natural dyes.  The exceptions are:  the madder colors, especially when fixed on oil-prepared cotton, as in Turkey red; the black produced by logwood, tannin, and iron; and a few mineral colors, e.g., iron buff, manganese brown, chromate of lead orange, etc., and Prussian blue.  Cochineal and its allies, which are such excellent dyes for wool and silk, give only fugitive colors on cotton.

The main point which arrests our attention in connection with the natural dyes seems to me to be the comparatively limited number of fast colors.  Very remarkable is the total absence of any really fast yellow vegetable dye, and it is probably on this account that gold thread was formerly so much introduced into textile fabrics.  Notice further the decided fastness of Prussian blue, especially on wool and silk; while we cannot but remark the comparatively fugitive character of vat indigo blue on cotton, and even on silk, compared with the fastness of the same color when fixed on wool.

Now, let us turn our attention to the artificial coloring matters, derived with few exceptions from coal tar products.

Here again we have two classes, “mordant dyes” and “direct dyes.”  Both classes are somewhat numerous, but whereas the former may be conveniently shown on a single diagram sheet, it requires a considerable number to display the latter.

First let us examine the wool patterns dyed with the “mordant dyes.”

We find there a few yellow dyes quite equal in fastness to those of natural origin, or even somewhat surpassing them, e.g., two of the alizarin yellows, viz., those marked R and G G W. Except in point of fastness and mode of application, I may say that these are not true alizarin colors, neither are they analogous to the natural yellow dyestuffs, for they are incapable of giving dark olives with iron mordants.  Truer representatives of the natural yellow dyes appear, however, to exist in galloflavin and the alizarin yellows marked A and C, and, as you see, they are of about the same degree of fastness.

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Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.