SCOTTISH SECTION. -- Meeting hcld on March lst, 1913, Mr. CHARLEI

Newer Methods of Engraving. By D. BLACKWOOD.

(Short summary of paper.) In calico printing it is necessary to have thc

tlcsign represented by hlocks or rollors for thc purposc of carrying the colour to he transferret to the fabric.

I n the earlier methods wood or coppere'ec blocks, in cameo or relief, were used. Thir manual operation was necessarily slow, and wai Ruperseded by the cylinder printing machine To meet these changed conditions intaglic engraving was found necessary, and varioiir machines have from time to time been inventec to produce the engraving necessary for rotarj printing. (The different effects produced or cloth by the various methods of engraving werc fully explained.) Many minor improvement! have been successfully int*roduced, but in calicc printing there has been no such revolution ai has taken place within the past ten years ir book and newspaper illustrations by means o photo process engraving. This is principal11 owing to the absorbent nature of calico, whicl consequently requires deeper engraving t c carry sufficient colouring matter to give thf necessary bloom on the face of the cloth.

By means of diagrams and sketches, thf Lecturer explained the difficulties which photc proccss engraving has to contend with in calicc printing, and also exhibited some fine specirnenr of lithograph three-colour half-tone blocks, anc the possibility of their application to calicc printing was considered.

The chief difficulty of adopting the three, colour process would be the changing of ~0111. binations of colours. If this could be snrinountecl by our colourists it would not only cheapen thc engraving of the more elaborate designs, bul would also open up avenues for further develop. ment in the trade.

Oil printing, with a view to saving after. processes, and also the engraving necessary for this new system, was explained.

Lastly, t.he possibility (in the near future) of dccorating cloth without engraved rollers W ~ F pointed out. This system would be on the principle of reflecting the design on to sensitized cloth as i t passed into a box or drum for the purpose of being developed and fixed.

GLEN in the chair.

Uorreeponbence, Mariano Procopio; E.F.C.B. Minas,

1'0 thc Editors of the Journal of the 8ocicty of Dyrrs wid Colourists.

Sirs,-The n6te by Messrs. Meister, Lucius and Druning on tho deleterious effect of tho

Brazil, April 28th, 1913.

gases from flame arcs, pnhlishctl i n tho April number of the Journal, rrmintls me of a soine- what similar occurrence that came under nip notice some years ago.

Some white rubber-proofed garments werr submitted to me for examination, owing to the rubbcr having become quite ycllow ant1 brittlc in places, although the goods had never been worn. The coniplaints only came from one buyer of these goods, although similar goods hail heen freely deIivered elsewhere.

After following up many false clues, I found that the damaged rubber was quite frccly solublc in acetone, and that the acetone extract, aftcr removal of the solvent, contained notable amounts of nitrogen.

Further investigation showed that a similar discoloration and hardening could be produced on the coating of undamaged garments by exposure to nitric oxide. I also learned that tho damage only appeared on those portions of the garments which were more or less freely exposed to the atmosphere of the warehouse in which the goods complained of had been stored. The warehouse in question was lighted by arc lamps, and the damage ceased to appear when the coats were kept in boxes and better ventilation installed in the roof.-Yours truly,

W. ERMEN.

Some Recent Improvements in Finishing. To the Editors of the Journal of the Socicl!j of

Dyers and Colourisk Sirs,-In connection with tho above urticlr.

which appears in the April imue of the Journd, pp. 117-119, I desire to point out that thr application of conical rollers in the Schreincr finish to produce a friction effect was already known before the Gebauer publication of 1912. The English patent, No. 10,649, 1908, which was taken out by Thomas and John Picklcs, describes exactly the same arrangement, and these patentees arc therefore to he regartlcd its the inventors.

May %th, 1913. THE AUTHOR. Yours, &c..

$betract0 froin Ettgtfsb anb jforefgn 3orrrnats anb patents.

I.-MACHINERY AND APPARATUS. - Improvements in Continuous Apparatus.

J . E. PALMER. To facilitate the passage of the material

,hrough thc J-shaped receptaclc shown in thc igure, the curved portion of the bottom wall 2 8 provided with a series of longitudinally !xtending ribs 11, to reduce tho friction of ,hc material. These ribs are of gradually tle- :reasing width from their i q q ~ r to their lowrr mds, and of gradually illCrc.itsing height. Tllc qwon 5 is siniilarly proviclecl witti ribs 12. Thr