quantities so small, however, that there is no serious results to be feared, as it must be used in quantity to injure the fibre.

BISMARCK BROWN.

Bismarck brown is a product that is used in feather dyeing to a considerable extent, chiefly in a diluted form. It dissolves readily in boiling water. It comes in the form of a powder, of a dirty black hue, and in liquid it is a heavy yellowish red. It makes a fast color, alkali having but little effect on it. Oxalic or sulphuric acid will brighten the color, and turning it more on the red order. In giving a brownish hue to such light colors as beige, ecru, etc., it is invaluable. It is used by some in the topping of dark brown. It has such a great affinity for the fibre of feathers that it is very difficult to remove therefrom.

CONCENTRATED COTTON BLUE.

This blue appears to the consumer in the form of crystals or coarse powder of a purplish tint. It is not universally used among feather dyers, although it is the most reliable aniline blue in use. It is used in conjunction with oxalic acid to develop. It is fast to light, and possesses a great many advantages of value. It is soluble in water, either hot or cold, and is used in the production of the palest shades, as well as in the darkest navy blues.

ROCCELINE.

A patented product, that in feather dyeing is capable of taking the place of all other reds. It is the only dyestuff that satisfactorily takes the place of extract of safflower, producing, with the aid of a proportion of oxalic acid, the most beautiful shades of scarlet and cardinal. It is perfectly fast to light, dissolves readily in boiling water, and comes to us in the form of a dull red powder. Its adulterations, if it contains any, have never interfered with its success; in fact, to the feather dyer it contains virtues too manifold and valuable to enumerate.

DYEING RECIPES.

WHITE.

BLEACHING, OR WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED CLEANING.

After stringing your feathers and marking your tickets, prepare luke warm soap-water and wash thoroughly between the hands to remove all dirt and grease. Rub the soap on the feathers, rinse thoroughly in luke warm water two or three times for the purpose of removing all particles of soap, which is very important; just as much so as removing the dirt. For one to one hundred feathers you can use a common porcelain wash bowl. Prepare bath by using one gallon of clear cold water, add to that a small handful of starch, powdered or lump starch will answer. Enter feathers, rubbing them thoroughly between the hands to expand the flues and get them in condition to receive the color, so as to insure an even shade; after which add about one-half teaspoonful of oxalic acid and a drop of diluted violet, just enough to give your bath a pale lavender tint. Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about one minute, keeping them under the surface and agitating by rubbing them between the hands; after which squeeze feathers out of bath and dry. The quickest method for a few feathers is to have a small quantity of clean, powdered starch, and rub them around in it. The starch will immediately absorb all moisture, and you have but to beat it out of the flues, as it dries either on a clean board or between the hands. It is but the work of a few seconds. This method of drying insures an unsoiled color, as the feathers are dry a few seconds after leaving the bath.

Great care should be used to bring your violet diluted thoroughly, so that no particles may enter the bath and spot your goods. In diluting your violet use boiling water, and shake well in bottle, and let it stand for a time, when all sediment will settle at the bottom, and will not again mix with your color.

It is very important to use only the amount of oxalic acid mentioned in recipe, as a greater quantity would destroy your color by turning the violet a dirty blueish green, and much less than the quantity mentioned would have a tendency to cast a lavender tint on your goods. Should you, by mistake or carelessness, spoil your white, proceed to rinse off all the starch in cold water first; then in luke warm water to remove all the acid from feathers, and then use soap and hot water, and wash well, and rinse. Mix a fresh white bath as directed in the recipe, and proceed this time with more care.

BLEACHING LIGHT COLORS WHITE.

Old faded light colors, such as blue, pink, ecru, corn, drab, etc., that you are desirous of bleaching white, can be accomplished in the following way. Wash feathers thoroughly in warm water, using soap. Add a small pinch of soda, after which rinse in about three warm waters to insure the removal of every particle of soap. Dilute in clean bowl or basin one-quarter ounce of permanganate of potash in one gallon of boiling water. The water must be as hot as steam or fire can make it. Enter feathers, and let remain in bath about one minute, a few seconds more or less will do no harm, nor will it make any material difference in the result; continually agitating in bath with clean stick, after which you will notice that the feathers have assumed a light, full brown color. Take out of the bath, but do not rinse them; let the loose color drain off for a few seconds, meantime empty bath and rinse your bowl thoroughly; then dilute half an ounce of oxalic acid or sulphurous acid in one gallon of boiling water. The water must be absolutely clean. Enter feathers, and let remain in until all the color has entirely disappeared, gently agitating while in bath. After the bath has become transparent and the feathers white, which will take about two minutes, empty out about two-thirds of the bath, and add cold water to reduce to hand heat; then add a small handful of starch and a drop of diluted violet, and enter your feathers, and let them remain in about one minute, squeeze out and dry in starch. Blue you will generally find the hardest of all light colors to remove for white, the soda and permanganate seeming apparently to decompose the color. The moment it enters the oxalic bath, it generally, to a more or less extent, develops the color again. Such being the case, after rinsing in luke warm water to remove acid, return to a weak soda bath for a minute, and then rinse and return to permanganate bath, rather weaker than the first one; in other words, repeat the first operation all through, only in weaker solutions.

This process can be used successfully in bleaching all light colors white. In bleaching natural blacks, however, it would not be practicable. A recipe for bleaching natural black will be found in another portion of the book.

WHITE—page 16. LILAC—page 56.
LIGHT PINK—page 20. LEMON—page 52.

LIGHT PINK.

White feathers are