the embroideries and weavings of Eastern Europe and the East. What are popularly known as "coffee towels" are often embroidered in the finest coloured silks. Bokhara rugs and embroideries are still to be purchased, and many of the weavings of the far East, although, alas, very few of the modern ones are of good colour. I would say to dyers, do not be satisfied with seeing beautiful coloured stuffs in museums. It is possible still to get them, and to live with a piece of good colour is of much more use than occasional hours spent in museums.

CHAPTER II.


WOOL SILK COTTON LINEN

Various kinds of wool. Wool from goats. Fleeces. Wool dyeing. Scouring of wool. Silk, preparation for dyeing. Cotton, cleansing and galling of. Indian methods of preparing cotton and linen for dyeing. BANCROFT on the preparing of cotton and linen for dyeing. Linen. On water for dyeing.

ON WOOL.—The quality of wool varies considerably. British wools are of various kinds:—

Highland, Welsh and Irish wools are from small sheep, not far removed from the wild state, with irregular short stapled fleeces.

Forest or Mountain sheep (Herdwick, Exmoor, Blackfaced, Limestone, Cheviot) have better wool, especially the Cheviot which is very thick & good for milling.

Ancient Upland, such as South Down, are smaller sheep than the last named, but the wool is softer and finer.

Long Woolled sheep (Lincolns, Leicester) with long staple wool (record length, 36 in.) and the fleeces weighing up to 12 lbs. The Leicester fleece is softer, finer and better than the Lincoln.

To the end of the 18th century Spanish wool was the finest and best wool in the world. Spanish sheep have since been introduced into various countries, such as Saxony, Australia, Cape Colony, New Zealand, and some of the best wools now come from the colonies.

Alpaca, Vicuna and Llama wools are obtained from different species of South American goats.

Mohair is obtained from the Angora goat of Asia Minor.

Kashmir wool is got from the Thibetan goat.

Camel hair is the soft under wool of the camel, which is shed annually. It is of a brown colour.

The colour of wool varies from white to a very dark brown black, with all shades of fawn, grey and brown in between. The natural colours are not absolutely fast to light but tend to bleach slightly with the sun.

Fleeces are of various kinds, the principal being: Lambs, 3 to 6 months growth, the finest, softest and most elastic of wool. Hogs and Tegs: the first shearing of sheep that have not been shorn as lambs. Wethers: all clips succeeding the first shearing.

Wool comes into the market in the following condition. 1) In the grease, not having been washed and containing all impurities. 2) Washed, with some of the grease removed and fairly clean. 3) Scoured, thoroughly cleaned & all grease removed.

ON WOOL DYEING.—There are four principal methods of dyeing wool.

1st.—The wool is boiled first with the mordant and then in a fresh bath with the dye. This method of dyeing is the most satisfactory and gives brighter and faster colours than the other methods. It is not necessary to throw away the solution after the mordanting has been done, but it can be replenished for a fresh lot of wool; a separate bath is used for the dye.

2nd.—The wool is boiled first with the dye and, when it has absorbed as much of the colour as possible, the mordant is added to the same bath, thus fixing the colour. This is called the "stuffing" and "saddening" method; the "stuffing" being the boiling of the wool with the dye stuff and the "saddening" the fixing the colour by the mordant.

A separate bath can be used for each of these processes, in which case each bath can be replenished and used again for a fresh lot of wool.

3rd.—The wool is boiled with the mordant and dye in the same bath together. The colour, as a rule, is not so fast & good as with a separate bath, though with some dyes a brighter colour is obtained.

4th.—The wool is mordanted, then dyed, then mordanted again (saddened). This method is adopted to ensure an extremely fast colour. The mordant in this case should be used rather sparingly.

Wool can be dyed either in the fleece, in the yarn or in the woven cloth. Raw wool always contains a certain amount of natural grease. This should not be washed out until it is ready for dyeing, as the grease keeps the moth out to a considerable extent. Hand spun wool is always spun in the oil to facilitate spinning. All grease and oil must be scoured out before dyeing is begun, and this must be done very thoroughly or the wool will take the colour unevenly.

The principal detergent known from earliest times is stale urine. In the Highlands this is used in the proportion of 1 part to 5 of water. It is the best scouring agent and leaves the wool soft and elastic. Carbonate of soda is also used. But a good pure soap is the most convenient scouring agent. A suds should be made with hot water, and the wool, which has been soaked in warm water previously, should be well squeezed and worked in the suds till all the grease is removed. This should be done two or three times if needed, and then the wool rinsed out thoroughly in clean water. Soda is apt to make the wool harsh and should be avoided. A little Ammonia added to the washing water helps.

To prevent yarn felting when it is scoured, it should be first steeped in hot water and left to cool. Soft soap is best for long fine wool. Urine for short wools; or urine and soda ash.

Another way of cleansing wool. Make a hot bath of 4 parts water and 1 part urine, enter wool, teasing it and opening it out to admit the full action of the liquid. After 20 minutes immersion, remove and allow to drain. Then rinse in clear running water and allow to dry. Use no soap. The liquid can be used again. The wool often loses one fifth of its weight in the process of washing.

To soften yarn—In a gallon of hot water dissolve half pound of common soda, then add half-pint of sweet oil and stir well. A little of this added to the washing water, for some colours, will soften the yarn.

To bleach wool—The wool is suspended in a closed room on hoops, and under the wool chafing dishes are placed with lighted coals on which powdered sulphur is cast. The room door is afterwards shut so that the smoke may be the longer retained to act on the wool, which is to remain until it is entirely whitened.

ON SILK.—There are two kinds of silk, 1) raw silk (reeled silk, thrown silk, drawn silk), and 2) waste silk or spun silk.

Raw silk is that directly taken from the cocoons. Waste silk is the silk from cocoons that are damaged in some way so that they cannot be reeled off direct. They are therefore carded and spun, like wool or cotton.

Silk in the raw state is covered with a silk gum which must be boiled off before dyeing is begun. It is tied up in canvas bags and boiled up in a strong solution of soap for three or four hours until all the gum is boiled off. If it is yellow gum, the silk is wrought first in a solution of soft soap at a temperature just below boiling point for about an hour, then put into bags and boiled. After boiling, the soap is well washed out.

Generally speaking, the affinity of silk for dyes is similar but weaker in character to that of wool. The general method for dyeing is the same as for wool, except that in most cases lower temperatures are used in the mordanting.