86
DYE-STUFFS IX LIVERPOOL AXD HULL IMPORTS.
[Class TV.
The series of dye-stuffs, included in the collection of Liverpool Imports, consists of the following:—
Garancine —Green ebony —Indigo - —
Logwood — —
3 3 “ *"
Madder - -
S3 ”
Munjeet — —
Nicaragua woodOrchilla weed
n ? i
Quercitron barkRed Sanders —Safflower — —
Sappan — —
Turmeric —Yellow berries
3 3 5 )
Young fustic
Anchusa tinctoria - —
3 3 3 3 “ _
Baphia nitula - - -
Csesalpinia braziliensis -,, bahamensis —Baphia nitida - — -
(Yellow dye) — - -
Maclura tinctoria - -
3 1 3 3 — “
3 3 3 3 — —
(Madder red) - - -
Sacandra ovalifolia - -
Indigofera tinctoria - ~
3 3 3 3 ” “
,, anil — - -
Iljematoxyloir campechianum
3 3 3 3
3 3 . 3 3
ltubia tinctoria - - -
3 3 3 3 _ — —
3 3 3 3 — — —
3 3 3 3 — — —
Rubia cordifolia - - -
Csesalpinia echinata — -
Roccelia - - - -
3 3 — — — _
Quercus tinctoria - —
Pterocarpus santalinus —Carthamus tinctorius -
3 3 , 3 3 —
Cassalpima sappan - —
Curcuma longa - — —
Rhamnus infectorius - -
Rhus cotinus - - —
! 1849 1
1850
! Tons.
Tons.
Smyrna — -
-
-
-
—
Hamburg -
—
—
—
—
_
-
400
350
_
-
1,800
3,120
New Providence
_
-
180
96
_
_
180
210
New Y’ork -
-
_
_
70
St. Domingo
-
-
100
420
Savanilla -
-
-
400
1,450
Cuba — —
-
-
300
1,220
-
-
2,340
2,985
-
-
30
.•30
-
-
10
7
Bombay -
-
-
3
2
-
_
-
-
1.330
1,300
Tobasco -
-
-
420
390
Campeachy -
-
-
1,700
1,860
Naples - -
-
1
:
l
f
2,340
2,985
_
405
525
Lima — -
-
-
400
1,570
Valparaiso -
_
—
-
o
Cape de Verd
_
-
-
8
-
-
296
514
-
—
120
246
Bombay -
-
-
11
4
-
-
18
12
—
-
75
120
140
414
Smyrna — -
—
}
113
115
-
276
356
l
The series of Hull Imports includes samples of alkanetroot and madder; the yearly average imports beingabout 60 cwts. of the former, and 18,500 cwts. of thelatter.
A numerous and highly-instructive collection of dye-stuffs is exhibited by Mr. \V. Burch, of Sewardstone (77,pp. 200*, 201*), consisting of the different substancesemployed as dyes, mordants, &c., in dyeing; formingaltogether a complete illustration of the operations of thedyer and calico-printer, and accompanied by specimensexhibiting the various stages through which silk, wool,and cotton fabrics have to pass in the processes of thedyer.
The arts of dyeing and printing, although involvingvery different processes of manipulation, are, as regardsthe chemical basis of their operations, essentially thesame. Dyeing consists in staining the whole surface of afabric with the same colour, which is effected, generally,by immersing it in a bath, or a series of baths, more orless heated, by which means the fibre becomes penetratedwith the colouring matters thus brought in contactwith it.
Printing, on the other hand, consists in staining thesurface of a piece of cloth in parts, with one or morecolours, or, if entirely covered, in staining it with avariety of colours arranged in patterns. In order toeffect this partial staining, and to obtain due clearness ofoutline in the figure, a decoction or solution of thecolouring matter,—or of a proper metallic solution ormordant, by means of which the colouring matter is tobe subsequently fixed,—is thickened by mucilage of somekind, usually either gum or starch, in order to preventits running or spreading beyond the parts intended to bedyed. This mucilage is taken on the surface of the print-ing blocks, and impressed in proper order on the cloth.It is then allowed to dry, and is afterwards, according tothe nature of the colour, either subjected to the actionof steam (which merely softens the mucilage and fixesthe colouring matter in the cloth without wetting it), or,if a mordant, it is placed in a warm bath with colouring
matter that becomes fixed only on those parts on which• the mordant has been printed, and after this the mucilageis readily washed away.
But although the operations of dyeing and printing arethus, to some extent, different, yet the dye-stuffs or' colouring matters used are entirely the same, and are■ applied to produce the same results; so that, in fact, theart of colour-printing, setting apart pattern designing,may be regarded as a mere modification of the art ofdyeing.
In the processes of fixing colouring matters, it is foundthat there are many substances capable of affording very; beautiful, useful, and lasting colours, which have not, ofthemselves alone, a sufficient affinity for the fibre; butwhich, nevertheless, may be easily combined with itthrough the agency of certain other substances not inthemselves colouring matters, but having an affinity bothfor the substance of the fabric and also for the colouringmatters, by which means the colouring matters areeffectually united with the fibre. These substances (forthe most part metallic solutions), are termed “ mordants,”and besides their peculiar action in changing the hues ofthe colouring matters are the means by which some ofthe most lasting, and therefore most useful, dyes areattained. The bases of the mordants chiefly used are theoxides of iron, tin, copper, and alumina, in combinationwith sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, acetic, and other acids.From the great diversity of substances used in the art ofdyeing, including metals and metallic compounds, woods,flowers, roots, barks, leaves, fruits, insects, Sec., all ofwhich respectively require essentially different treatment,there is necessarily considerable variety in the methodsand processes employed; and this variety is still furtherincreased by the different nature of the substances dyed—such as wool, silk, leather, cotton, flax, and wood.
In the substances of the greatest importance—wool,silk, and cotton—experience shows that the colouringmatter which suits the nature of one does not, necessarily,suit that of another; and indeed, for the most part, thei process of dyeing those three substances is so distinct as