Dambourney, Gonfreville and others, each of whom has left interesting records of his work.
Down to the middle of the 19th century natural dyestuffs alone, with but few exceptions, were at the command of the dyer. But already in the year 1834 the German chemist Runge noticed that one of the products obtained by distilling coal-tar, namely, aniline, gave a bright blue coloration under the influence of bleaching powder. No useful colouring matter, however, was obtained from this product, and it was reserved for the English chemist Sir W. H. Perkin to prepare the first aniline dye, namely, the purple colouring matter Mauve (1856). The discovery of other brilliant aniline dyestuffs followed in rapid succession, and the dyer was in the course of a few years furnished with Magenta, Aniline Blue, Hofmann’s Violet, Iodine Green, Bismarck Brown, Aniline Black, &c. Investigation has shown that the products of the distillation of coal-tar are very numerous, and some of them are found to be specially suitable for the preparation of colouring matters. Such, for example, are benzene, naphthalene and anthracene, from each of which distinct series of colouring matters are derived. In 1869 the German chemists Graebe and Liebermann succeeded in preparing Alizarin, the colouring matter of the madder-root, from the coal-tar product anthracene, a discovery which is of the greatest historical interest, since it is the first instance of the artificial production of a vegetable dyestuff. Another notable discovery is that of artificial Indigo by Baeyer in 1878. Since 1856, indeed, an ever-increasing number of chemists has been busily engaged in pursuing scientific investigations with the view of preparing new colouring matters from coal-tar products, and of these a few typical colours, with the dates of their discovery, may be mentioned: Cachou de Laval (1873); Eosin (1874); Alizarin Blue (1877); Xylidine Scarlet (1878); Biebrich Scarlet (1879); Congo Red (1884); Primuline Red (1887); Rhodamine (1887); Paranitraniline Red (1889); Alizarin Bordeaux (1890); Alizarin Green (1895). At the present time it may truly be said that the dyer is furnished with quite an embarrassing number of coal-tar dyestuffs which are capable of producing every variety of colour possessing the most diverse properties. Many of the colours produced are fugitive, but a considerable number are permanent and withstand various influences, so that the general result for some years has been the gradual displacement of the older natural dyestuffs by the newer coal-tar colours.
During this period of discovery on the part of the chemist, the mechanical engineer has been actively engaged in devising machines suitable for carrying out, with a minimum of manual labour, all the various operations connected with dyeing. This introduction of improved machinery into the dyeing trade has resulted in the production of better work, it has effected considerable economy, and may be regarded as an important feature in modern dyeing.
The art of dyeing is a branch of applied chemistry in which the dyer is continually making use of chemical and physical principles in order to bring about a permanent union between the material to be dyed and the colouring matter applied. If cotton or wool is boiled in water containing finely powdered charcoal, General principles.or other insoluble coloured powder, the material is not dyed, but merely soiled or stained. This staining is entirely due to the entanglement of the coloured powder by the rough surface of the fibre, and a vigorous washing and rubbing suffices to remove all but mere traces of the colour. True dyeing can only result when the colouring matter is presented to the fibre in a soluble condition, and is then, by some means or other, rendered insoluble while it is absorbed by, or is in direct contact with, the fibre. There must always be some marked physical or chemical affinity existing between fibre and colouring matter, and this depends upon the physical and chemical properties of both. It is well known that the typical fibres, wool, silk and cotton, behave very differently towards the solution of any given colouring matter, and that the method of dyeing employed varies with each fibre. As a general rule wool has the greatest attraction for colouring matters, and dyes most readily; cotton has the least attraction, while silk occupies in this respect an intermediate position. These differences may be to some extent due to differences of physical structure in the fibres, but they are mainly due to their different chemical composition.
On the other hand, a given fibre, e.g. cotton, behaves quite differently in dyeing towards various colouring matters. Some of these are not at all attracted by it, and are incapable of being used as dyestuffs for cotton. For others cotton exhibits a marked attraction, so that it is readily dyed by mere steeping in a hot solution of the colouring matter. Again, for other colouring matters cotton has little or no attraction, and cannot be dyed with them until it has been previously impregnated or prepared with a metallic salt, tannic acid or some other agent which is capable of combining with the colouring matter and precipitating it as an insoluble coloured compound within or upon the fibre. Such differences of behaviour are to be ascribed to differences in the chemical constitution or atomic arrangement of the various colouring matters.
In the case of the coal-tar colours we are, for the most part, well acquainted with their chemical constitution, and in accordance with this knowledge the chemist has arranged them in the following groups:—(1) Nitro Colours. (2) Azo Colours, including Amido-azo, Oxy-azo, Tetrazo and Polyazo Colours. (3) Hydrazone Classification of colouring matters.Colours. (4) Oxy-quinone Colours, including Quinone-oxime Colours. (5) Diphenylmethane and Triphenylmethane Colours, including Rosaniline, Rosolic acid and Phthaleïne Colours. (6) Quinoneimide Colours, including Indamine, Indophenol, Thiazime, Thiazone, Oxazime, Oxazone, Azine, Induline, Quinoxaline and Fluorindine Colours. (7) Aniline Black. (8) Quinoline and Acridine Colours. (9) Thiazol Colours. (10) Oxy-ketone, Xanthone, Flavone and Cumarine Colours. (11) Indigo. (12) Colours of unknown constitution.
This arrangement of the colouring matters in natural chemical groups is well suited for the requirements of the chemist, but another classification is that based on the mode of their application in dyeing. This is much simpler than the previous one, and being better adapted for the practical purposes of the dyer, as well as for explaining the various methods of dyeing, it is preferred for this article. According to this arrangement colouring matters are classified under the following groups:—(1) Acid Colours. (2) Basic Colours. (3) Direct Colours. (4) Developed Colours. (5) Mordant Colours. (6) Miscellaneous Colours. (7) Mineral Colours. It is well to state that there is no sharp line of division between some of these groups, for many colours are applicable by more than one method, and might quite well be placed in two, or even three, of the above groups. This may be due either to the kind of fibre to which the colouring matter is to be applied, or to certain details in the chemical constitution of the latter which give it a twofold character.
