Experiments on Dying Black, by Mr. James Clegg, of Redivales, Near Bury. In a Letter to Dr. Percival

Experiments on Dying Black, by Mr. James Clegg, of Redivales, Near Bury. In a Letter to Dr.PercivalAuthor(s): James CleggSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 64 (1774), pp. 48-53Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/105983 .

Accessed: 24/06/2014 20:59

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The Royal Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to PhilosophicalTransactions (1683-1775).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.25 on Tue, 24 Jun 2014 20:59:21 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=rsl

http://www.jstor.org/stable/105983?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


[ +8 J

IV. Eber ts on Ds Bbck, ty James Clegg, ef imles, xuar Bury v a Letter to Dr; Percwal

DtAR 8IR,

Ede Nov. zI,T I M E having been prwved to inZ 77D tz c-eafe the ldlvent posser of

water, upon aftringent vegetables} for medical purpolEs, I was defiFvus of kswwwag if it would be qually u(bfil in the art of dying black; to this end 1 snade the fillowillg egperimellts.

E X P E R-I X E N T I.

Four pelll1y-weights of eacll of the bllowil)g a{}ringeluts; videlicet, Galls, Sumach, Oak Bark Bi{?ort Root, and Logwood, were boiled during tWn minutes, in halfapillt of pureriver water; upon mixiIlg the decoEtions with a Idturated folu tion of martial vitrsolX in tlle proportiots of = of the folutiol] to T of the decoftotl, thejr firuck colours differexltly itlclining to blackneX, in tile fillotring order; videlicet, Oal; Bark, BiRort Root Sumach-Galls. Ithen boiledthe fimc zrcight of all thc aRrillgents in tlle Iime quatltity of lime water; alld upon mixiI)g tllexa



[ 49 ] " abosc, the colours they produced were inferlor ta thofe with plain water, the GaRritagency of th¢ lowood; or whatever gives it the property of fiPl-iDg black with green vnriol, ras entirely 4NtrQ¢d; it produned not the lealt blackneIs with any quantity of vieriolX

EXP E RIMENT It.

Fout pelltayrweights, of each of the- aRringents abovementioned, were tritured itl -plain water, and four others in lime-water; the meafures of water ufed were equal to thofe lefh after boiling, in tbe lalE expeliment;: and, upon bettzg mixed with martial vitriol as in theu1ak expe0rimeLlt- the ciours produced, by this: meatls, werc fuwrio-r to tho*>produced by boililug ThoSe tritured in lime- weer trere judged to be the deweR, which agrees m^wth M; HENRY2S experiments; but we muR agaia cxcept the Logssood, whtch gave 1ze colour by triturations more than by boilillg n limc wa-ter

. .

B X P E x x M E N T lIIs

All the alzove mixtercs, hating been writteu withas i-l], mt1 ¢xpoWed fix tBOUti}S to thc air; th lsslad in lim>water had iiled m-uch; thofe mtu-r44 ila 1im>-watvs xld iu plain water, had faded a little; aheIe boilud X fiaib water evidet-tly preX ;#ved tisir colour b$t

UpOIl Ilighely rubbing ti i6-breingss wvith a Selb aRringellt ligu@, they recoverod their ori

VotX LX1vX H ginal



[ 5° ] ginal blbckneS;; by which it appeafs, that ie w-as the aRringent parts of thofe Inks whrch had failedX

Does it not appear, by thefe experitnents, thatS though lime-water tends to deepen the colour produced by fome aItrillgents and martiaX ritriQi, it

by lzo mearls adds to the duration of thofe eolours ^ and as lime-water, either by trtturation or CO&iOIly elltirely deRroys the property, 1£1 logwood, of Rriksug black with lnartial vitriol, i;t car} by no means be of fetvice, -ill the black dye whe-re logwood is a material ingredient.

Do¢s it not alfio appear, that a flighe boiling is prefierable tQ trituration, for the purpefes Qf dyings

when a durable colout is wanted ? Having obServed a folatiotl of iron, IIl a seEe-

able acid, tiruck a de-ep.er black, u.pon misture with an aRrsugetlt., and produced its tffeA much more expedst}onfly, than a fcralg IoluticBr} of martial witriol; it occurred to me, that the ironfi be- alg more flightly combined with the vegetablt acidfi than with the vitriolic, made it mort eafiyS for the aflcringent matter to decompound the for- mer, ad produce an snk, if this. was the cafe, Ia fufpefted,, that limewater deeptIzed the colour of afEri}gert alzd chalybeate mixtures, tzot Wo much by its adtion UpOI} the.aRringents as upal the sh^lybeates the lime uniting with the fiperabun- dant acide and leaiving the irons with fe much of thv acid, as! isZ necexqary fn the formation of an suks to be more eafily attated by the ringellt anatte, o£ the vegetable.



[. Sr ]

Bvt if this theory was well foullded} it fiol Jowed, from analogy} that any fubItance, which had a greater affinity with the vitriolic acid tllatl iroll had, would produce the fime effedc, in forne dqree, as lime. To determille this:

E X P E R I M E N t IV

I t{>ok two wlHels, contaialing equal meaI^ures of a Frong aRringelit liquor compolEe3 of galls and logwxd > ltltO one veflel I put a {alall qualltity of pearl aShes; the other remained as a tTalidard. Pieces of linen and cotton cloths after maceratioxI ill theSe liquors, were thrown together illtO a flrong folution of copperas; tbey were bon xafter takels out and walied in cold water; whetl dry, elle pieces prepared in aWhes were, all of them, much deeper than the otherg

f made uX of diffierent kinds of pearl and pot affies} as wrell as ofvmany kilids of afiriligenes; the aShes Iwad the fame effeEtf whatever aRriIlgelt was mzKde uSe of, and the Ilroaige{t alkali aIways produced the deepeflt colour; alid though athes, uI8d with an aliriovne, always gave a deeper blacks thas the Iime aRringent without aShes, yet logwood, which without aIhes gare IiOt fo dxp a colour as galls with them, gave a much deeper l)lack thall galls with tile lime additionr

There was a remarkable differencet in this catE, betwixt lime and aWhes, in their effeer upon logX wood; with lime it gave noX blacknefs, but with aShes it produced Xa deeper blackS than ally other a§:ririgent I made uSe of

H 2 Beitlg



[sX ]

iBUing defirous of tryillg the duration of coIours-, produced by afiringents, in which diffierent qua tities of pearl afhes had been di&olved,

E X P E R I ME NT P..

Jn tzro pints of river- water, I boited one ounce of logwood during ten minutes; I then added llalf all ounce of Aleppo galls, and boiled them to-* gether ten m<illutes longer; the liquor having kood to cool, was deca$ated oS, and divided into iix equal quan;tities. N<°. X remairled as a Ilsandard, rato N°. 2 t-pU fix grains of fine pearl affics, N°. 3 twelve grains, I^1°. 4 eighteen grains, N°. 5 twenty-fou.r grains, N°. 6 thir;ty grains; to fix drops of each of theSe liquors, I added two drops of a fa-turated folution oScopperas > N°. z and 3 fEruck a deep blacks N. X and 4 black, but in- ferior to z and 3> N°. 5 a brovvll black, N°. 6 broxvll.

From this experiment it appearsX that N°. S and 6 xvere fpoiled by atl over proportion of afhes. Befo:re I- had the pleafure of fetillg your experi- mentsj whereill yotl; demotlftrate, that a quantity of acid- ellters into -the- coinpofition of ink, I smagined the- alltali decompounded the copperas too fuddenly, and difengaged the iron-faRer, tihan ie aIlringent matter could unite svith lt.

-But Ino-R probably, the alkali neutralized bo grtat a pQtiOll of the acid.

All thefe:writings having been now expoSed finc t}-otths to thc air, in N°. 5 an;1- 6 the blainefs is

q.uit



[ 53 ] quite dellroyed, N°. 4 is fotnething faded, N. xt 2 3? remain nearly as they were, N°. 2 and 3 being itill fuperior to the Randard..

I am,,

Your moIl obligedF

humblie Servant, hdixles May x@,

}773!

JAMES CLEGG

vooZZ



Documents

Experiments on Dying Black, by Mr. James Clegg, of Redivales, Near Bury. In a Letter to Dr. Percival