Part 3

To prepare the size, place 4 ounces of flea-bane in a wide wooden tub, pour 6 quarts of boiling water over it and beat well with a switch of wicker-rods until the gum is entirely separated from the seeds, allow it to cool and after 10 or 12 hours filter through a linen cloth, when it is ready for use. The mucilage of flea-bane is quite homogeneous and of great consistency, is very viscous, forming strings very readily and is therefore not used for drawn edges since the colors will be drawn along by the stylus without being cut. It is mostly used for producing thickly veined, ordinary marbled edges, but flea-bane size is also much more expensive than that of carrageen moss and on the other hand its quality is so much inferior to that of the other that I cannot recommend it for use as size.

I will briefly mention the other vegetable matters containing an especially large quantity of gum or mucilage, but which have not come into use for preparing marbling size on account of their cost and of the less consistency of their mucilages.

The richest in this regard are the seeds of quinces and linseed. Their mucilage is as viscous as that of flea-bane. Much less gum is contained in the leaves of mallows of colts-foot or of marsh-mallows.

In closing this chapter upon the mucilages of plants and their applications as sizing for marbling I again recommend carrageen moss as the best size, because it has given me during my investigations and in practice, surprising results of its usefulness for all kinds of marbled edges.

OX-GALL.

OX-GALL.

THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF OX-GALL.

In the bile of every animal are two peculiar acids both containing nitrogen. One of them free of sulphur, the other containing it, both by boiling with acids and alkalis yield the same acid free of nitrogen, which is called cholic acid.

If these two acids be separated from each other in a chemical way we obtain glycocholic acid, an acid free of sulphur and the other taurocholic acid containing sulphur. The alkali salts contained in bile are quite soluble in water or alcohol but insoluble in ether. To produce it in a pure state mix the bile with as much animal coal, (spodium) so that finally, on evaporation in the water-bath a dry powder results, from which is drawn, by the use of absolute alcohol, the now colorless cholic acid esters, cholesterine, choline, lactic acid, etc. When ether containing a little water is added, the cholic acid esters are precipitated as colorless plaster-like masses and crystallize, when left in the fluid for some time.

The so-called crystallized bile is the final material for the preparation of acids. The acids of ox-gall have been investigated in the most thorough manner.

Glycocholic acid is obtained as a colorless precipitate from a watery solution of crystallized ox-gall, by adding dilute sulphuric acid until the fluid becomes flocculent, which after a while, especially, if the water contains a little ether, is changed into a voluminous 'magma' of fine white needles.

If collected upon a filter, these needles unite and form a lustrous felt.

Glycocholic acid is sparingly soluble in water but soluble in alcohol. It forms the principal constituent of bile, it reacts feebly with acid and tastes bitter-sweet. Taurocholic acid is found only in small quantities in ox-gall and has no important effect on the colors.

THE EFFECT OF OX-GALL UPON COLORS.

By chemical analysis we have seen that glycocholic acid is the principal constituent of ox-gall and in combination with taurocholic acid, glycin, choline and lactic acid is soluble in water. On the other hand, when pure, it is soluble with difficulty and therefore is only of use to us when in combination with other acids, as it must combine intimately with water-colors.

The atomic weight of gall and the insolubility of pure glycocholic acid in water are the most valuable properties of it for the marbling colors.

The first gives to the colors the expanding power, the latter the adhesion to paper.

All the lower fatty acids, among which ox-gall may be numbered, possess properties similar to fatty bodies, namely a less atomic weight than water. They differ from fatty bodies in this, that they mix with water.

The expanding power and lightness of ox-gall are, consequently, peculiarities of equal value. Marbling size forms the base for the colors, which by the consistency of the glutinous mass and by the gall added to them are prevented from sinking to the bottom. They float like drops of oil upon the water and only differ from them by the fact that the colors will spread out on the size, while the drops of oil on the water are contracted to circular spots of small size. If a drop of oil were thrown upon the size it would spread out very quickly.

This purely physical occurrence is caused by the different weights of the bodies and the consistency of the size. The fatty bodies, which are much lighter than water, float upon it but the gravity of the drop itself prohibits its spreading out, as it sinks somewhat and is held together by it. It is different with the size; by the consistency of the glutinous mass the gravity of the drop is antagonized and as a result it flattens and spreads out.

As I have already mentioned the insolubility of glycocholic acid binds the color to the paper. To explain this I will mention a few examples; the saturated alum solution will cause glycocholic acid to curdle. If, therefore, we add to ox-gall which is basic the saturated solution of alum, a soft plaster-like mass is precipitated which consists of glycocholate of aluminium, insoluble in water. This chemical reaction explains the durability of the colors. If we desire to marble books or papers we impregnate them with alum water, allow them to dry partly and take the edge from the size.

In the same moment that the paper soaked with alum comes in contact with the colors, the latter become bound by the formation of glycocholates of aluminium and do not run. They have the same property of fixing colors that resinous soaps used in the paper manufacture for gluing machine paper have. If this resinous soap were not too strongly basic, which is injurious to many colors, it might be applied as a surrogate for ox-gall.

As the resinous soap on account of its binding quality and insolubility could also be used in marbling with such colors, upon which it exercises no injurious effect, I will here give its preparation and former use in the manufacture of paper. If 2-5 ounces of rosin be boiled with 1-1/3 ounces of sodium lye and if you add by teaspoonful from time to time so much lye until a sample of it is dissolved by hot water to a clear fluid, the mass on cooling congeals and forms a quite solid soap. If we mix a solution of resinous soap with one of alum then we obtain an insoluble compound of resinous acids and aluminium. In this way resinous soap is used in gluing paper by adding to the paper pulp, first resinous soap and then a solution of alum. During this process a thin layer of insoluble soap of aluminium is formed around every particle of the paper and thus the running of the ink is prohibited. The same process occurs with ox-gall contained in the colors, when the edge is lifted off on paper or book-edges impregnated with alum, by which the running of the colors is prohibited.

THE PREPARATION OF OX-GALL AND ITS USES.

The preparation of ox-gall to be used in marbling is simple. Take a quart of fresh bile (ox-gall or fish-gall), place in a bottle which contains when filled from 1-1/2 to 2 quarts, add 1/2 pint of absolute alcohol, shake well and leave stand for from 14 days to 3 weeks. Within this time all particles of gum and all fatty substances which are present in some galls in comparatively large quantities, will fall to the bottom and the gall will be thin-fluid, pure and diaphanous, brownish, yellow or greenish according to the nourishment of the animal from which it was taken.

Cow-gall contains more gum and fatty substances, than ox-gall; fish-gall, on the other hand, is thinner than ox-gall and would be the most useful of them all, if it could be obtained in sufficient quantities. If the gall is thin and pure it is filtered through paper which is easily and quickly done as it runs like water. If by filtering the dregs of the gall the filter should become clogged, a new one must be used.

The addition of alcohol causes the precipitation of glutinous and fatty substances and preserves the gall from decomposition. If prepared in such a way it can be preserved for years without spoiling.

All colors which we intend to use for marbling must be bound to bodies absolutely insoluble in water; it is therefore a mistake to say, that the colors dissolve in water. You may grind the color on a marble slab or in a machine as long as you please, but you will only obtain a great degree of fineness of the bodies but never a dissolution of the same.

Each body possesses its limit of divisibility; in amorphous bodies the high divisibility is but natural, but in crystalline bodies this division must be produced by grinding or washing.

The gall does not combine with these bodies, nor does it penetrate them, but only clings to them loosely. It can be readily removed in case the colors should be rendered useless by the addition of too much gall. The color is allowed to precipitate in the bottle and the water standing above is poured off, fresh water is added and this manipulation is repeated several times.

The gall which surrounds every particle of color forms, as it were, the support of it and adapts it to float upon the size.

Bodiless colors, which give a complete solution with water will run into each other on being thrown on the size and will flow from the paper when it is lifted off. The insolubility of the color bodies therefore prevents them from running although they are disarranged on the size in drawing and although one color may be compressed or expanded by a second, yet they all remain separate without mixing, except, perhaps, that the shade of the first color becomes more intense, because its color particles are pushed together by the more violent expansion of the second color.

From this it will be seen that the colors, to be useful for our purposes, must be thoroughly insoluble. The gall is added during the process of grinding the color, so that the particles of colors are fully surrounded by the gall. The gall has an excellent effect on the colors but it also can act very injuriously if the necessary precautions are not taken. Carelessness is mostly the reason that the edges do not possess the demanded lustre of color and why they appear pale, as the marbler often uses the gall too soon when he notices the smallest obstacle, (due in most cases to the size.) It is therefore not astonishing that brilliant comb or peacock-edges are so rarely seen.

It is an obstacle to marbling, that the gall mixes so easily with the size. It often happens that the gall spoils the size before an edge was ever produced on it. This happens especially when the size on which the colors are prepared according to the old method, is too thick. The size is frequently soiled and spoiled when the colors are prepared, because the colors can not be perfectly drawn off on thick size. There will always remain some particles which will not only soil the size but impregnate it with gall, and which will cause the entire uselessness of size and color.

A very consistent size will make the preparation of colors extremely difficult, as they need a double quantity of gall for the purpose of spreading out. If there is but one color used, the preparation on such a size would be possible without spoiling it, but with four colors this is entirely impossible because the repeated drawing off of the colors, which always leaves particles behind, will, by and by, impregnate the size so that when the fourth color is prepared the first will not spread out any further.

The more the impregnation of the gall and size increases, the power of expansion of the colors decreases and this continues until both materials are useless.

It is therefore advisable, as I have already stated, in the chapter upon the varieties of sizes that the colors should be prepared separately on a small part of size to determine the correct consistency of the latter and to prohibit the whole size being soiled.

The gall should be kept in a small bottle containing about 1/10 quart with a perforated stopper from which a small tube protrudes and from which the gall can be added to the colors in drops.

Although the preparation of the color in this way takes more time, this trouble is amply repaid by the result.

Fatty bodies are injurious to the size, therefore they must be carefully avoided because they have the same effect as the gall, they form, although not insoluble in water, a combination with the size and prohibit the colors from spreading out. Fatty bodies can be transferred by glutinous fluids into a state of the most minute division and they then form emulsions.

Natural emulsions are milk, the yolk of egg, and the milky saps of plants. For this reason, in many establishments raw milk is used as a propelling medium for hair-veined edges.

There are also fatty bodies which, in an artificial way, form an emulsion even with water; for instance, almond, poppy and hemp, if they are ground to a pulp with a little water yield a milky mixture. All these emulsions artificial as well as natural, can be employed as expanding mediums and give better results for marbling than petroleum or naptha.

Substances Acting Similarly to Gall.

SUBSTANCES ACTING SIMILARLY TO GALL.

There are rosins which are soluble in ammonia or borax. These solutions possess properties similar to gall and either can be used as an expanding medium or as an addition to colors. Different experiments with these solutions gave very good results.

To produce them pour a quart of water into a vessel, warm, add 2/5 of an ounce of shellac or rosin and a 1/100 part of a quart of ammonia or 2/5 of an ounce of borax so that the rosin becomes dissolved, and then bring the mixture to a boiling temperature.

Ammonia dissolves the rosins much more quickly and thoroughly than borax, but the solution in ammonia has the property of gelatinizing the colors after they have remained standing a short time. They therefore can only be used in a greatly diluted condition. The borax solution, on the other hand, has no such effect; not even the concentrated solution. I mention these two solutions especially, to instigate further investigations.

SPRINKLING WATER.

SPRINKLING WATER.

Sprinkling water is one of the newer discoveries in the art of marbling and deserves full consideration on account of its good properties. Its advantages consist in this, that it produces circular forms upon the size and has a greater expanding power than gall.

Sprinkling water is used for hair-veined edges and as an addition to the ground color in marbling.

To prepare it take 1-1/2 ounces of Venetian soap, finely chipped, place them in a pot with a quart of alcohol, warm up some water in a second and large vessel in which the pot containing the alcohol and soap is put, bring the whole to boiling, when the soap will be entirely dissolved in the alcohol. Keep a quintuple quantity of water in readiness into which the solution of soap is poured and stir well, the sprinkling water is then ready for use. The solution of soap in alcohol is carried out in a water-bath to avoid the ignition of the volatile vapors which are generated by this process. The alcohol prevents the foaming of the soap, the soft water the curdling.

The solution when ready is to be kept in a closed bottle.

Generally to the colors which are used for hair-veined edges and marble more gall is added than to those used for drawn edges. It is, therefore, easily understood that with these, a more intensively acting expanding medium must be used to spread out the strong colors into veins.

The sprinkling water is here of great service, because, although ox-gall in its pure state possesses a sufficient expanding power it is here more desirable to produce beauty of forms. In this respect the gall is much inferior to sprinkling water, the former producing all kinds of forms, the latter only beautifully round and oval ones.

For marbling, the ground color is prepared with gall so far, until it slightly pushes the other colors aside and then, by and by, so much sprinkling water is added until the desired expanding power is reached.

Every ground color which is prepared with sprinkling water spoils on standing two or three days becoming slimy and viscous, and, for economy's sake, not more color should be prepared with sprinkling water than is required for one marbling process.

For hair-veined edges, the sprinkling water is used in the same way as gall. Use a large painter's brush or whisk and move the colors by beating into veins, with this brush or whisk through a slot, or throw the sprinkling-water upon the color by means of the sprinkling brush and sieve. In both cases the same result will be achieved.

ALUM WATER.

ALUM WATER.

In the chapter upon gall I have mentioned in a general way the action of alum water upon the edges, it remains only therefore to explain the preparation and application of the same.

To achieve beautiful results from the colors it is indispensable to wet the book edges or the paper, to be marbled, with concentrated alum water, so that no spot is left free from moisture, because at that spot the color would not take.

Concentrated alum water is prepared in the following way; put 2 quarts of water and 13 ounces of alum into a pot and heat until the alum is entirely dissolved. This concentrated solution is permitted to cool and is bottled tightly.

A solution of alum in cold water is much too weak for the above purpose as alum is but sparingly soluble in cold water.

The book edge or paper, which is to be marbled, is wet with a sponge dipped into this cold concentrated alum solution and must be allowed to dry for from 5 to 8 minutes, after which the produced edge may be lifted from the size. Generally this point finds but too little consideration in our book-binding establishments.

Edges which have not been treated with this alum water show as a consequence poor and blotted results, although such little trouble is necessary to wet the edges with alum water.

With hair-veined edges, where colors are thrown on the size only in very small quantities, this wetting may be omitted; but with comb, peacock and bouquet edges, for which four to six colors are used, it is unavoidably necessary to prepare the edges with alum water because the glycocholate aluminium formed by the color while in connection with the alum water is essential to fix the color in such quantities.

Therefore, if it is desired to produce clean and lustrous edges in which the white lines appear without a trace of color, then this advice is to be followed, the small trouble being amply repaid by the beauty of the edges.

Ordinary earth and several of the lake-colors take without wetting of edges with alum water, but these colors leave much to be desired in their divisibility and fineness and always appear rugged.

A much finer fixing medium is the acetate of aluminium which can be easily produced.

Dissolve 1 pound of alum in 3 quarts of warm water, prepare another solution with the same quantity of soda, mix these two, whereupon the hydrate of aluminium is precipitated. Allow the latter to settle, pour the water above carefully off, and filter; the white body which remains consists of hydrate of aluminium which is readily dissolved by a little acetic acid, into a clear fluid and can be diluted with the same volume of water. Then heat the whole liquid, when the excess of acetic acid is evaporated, we have the desired acetate of aluminium which can be used in the same way as alum water.

Edges and paper which are to be marbled should only be moistened with alum water or aluminium acetate shortly before the marbling and should stand not longer than a half-hour after the sizing of the edges, because later on, an insoluble layer is formed which only takes color with great difficulty. It is therefore best to prepare the colors before commencing the sizing of the edges. If there are a large number of books, it is better to divide them into two or three lots.

The Preparation of the Colors for Marbling.

THE PREPARATION OF THE COLORS FOR MARBLING.

The want of knowledge of colors gave me the greatest trouble when I began their manufacture as I had no information as to why this or that color was unfit for marbling.

The numberless experiments I made to this end remained without results. It was an exceedingly great trial to my patience, but by the pertinacity with which I clung to my investigations, I, at last, succeeded in making the important discovery, that the real value of color for marbling purposes is its body and that the color itself, which is bound to the body either naturally or chemically, is of less importance. By this discovery every difficulty that I had so long experienced was cleared away and it was made manifest, why it had been impossible for the marbling art to become sufficiently popular.

From this time on I had a foundation, upon which to continue my investigations with greater surety. Finally I succeeded in finding that the colors named later on are good and useful marbling colors.

When we look over the different special branches of our trade, we find everywhere great progress, which is even noticeable in the smallest workshop. Already, these wonderful achievements have become common property, only the art of marbling stood still on account of insufficient instruction and it has not made any progress in the last decade. This was due to a large number of men in our trade using mechanical marblers to avoid those obstacles, which had hitherto offered themselves in marbling.

The expectations which were placed on the mechanical marblers were not fulfilled, because, after a short use, and when not carefully kept clean, they became sticky from dust and color mixing so that they gave but very indifferent productions. The necessity of continually cleaning these mechanical marblers and their lack of uniformity are by no means recommendable properties.

Mechanical marblers should be retired to small book-binderies for use upon single books, where they are eminently in the right place, driving away the primitive sprinkled or starched edges.

The interest which was shown in mechanical marblers is a proof that all members of our trade, who use them, possess a liking for the marbling art and would be zealous friends of the same, if they but knew of the methods of marbling, that would give beautiful results without great difficulty.

To judge rightly the value of a new invention, we have only to see, whether it is introduced into the wholesale trade and is in continual use. This is the best test of inventions and the only proper basis, upon which to judge them correctly. We find the mechanical marblers exclusively in the small shop, because they do not answer the demands of the wholesale manufacturer in any way.

What the marbling art is able to offer, a person can only judge, who has seen exemplary edges and to whom marbling is not a stranger. No kind of edge, to which color is applied, can be compared to the effective splendor of marbled edges. In thousands of variations it imitates nature and delights the eye by its products. Although marbling has hardly reached the middle rung of the ladder of its development, it to-day stands unrivalled.