Page 149

Books: Smith's Practical Dyer's Guide.                 J9 
is at least worth while, if novelty is so important, that it should be sought
rather in the new plants from other climes, wonderful, as many are in combi-
nations of form and colour, such as the whole class of orchids, alone a vast
treasure-house of novelty, than in these unnatural attempts upon the native
beauties of our own clime. Moreover, that the true principles of Indian orna-
ment, most artistic as such ornament is, and most thoroughly appropriate
to 
both textile and fictile fabrics, should be attentively studied. If good
speci- 
mens are selected, the laws of colour will be found to be scientifically
attended 
to, and the designer may arrive at novelty by applying the same mode to 
other and perhaps purer forms. 
Tan PFcTAc, Dyza's GuI=E. By David Smitb.-Simpkin and Marshall. 
Tim title of this work is amply descriptive of its contents. It comprises
"Practical 
Instructions in the Dyeing of Shot Cobourgs, Silk Striped Orleans, Coloured
Orleans 
from Black Warps, ditto from White Warps, Coloured Cobourgs from White Warps,
Merinos, Yams, Woollen Cloths, &c. ; containing nearly 300 Receipts,
to most of 
which a Dyed Pattern is annexed; also, A Treatise on the Art of Padding."
In his 
Preface the author says, that- 
"In order to convey the idea of what the result would be, of dyeing
pieces in a 
certain way, and with specified quantities of materials, I have annexed to
each or the 
receipts (nearly 800) a dyed pattern of woollen, worsted, and mixed goods,
show- 
ing the colour produced by the ingredients mentioned in the receipts. All
those 
patterns have been dyed by my own hands, and with the very materials and
quanti- 
ties as stated in the receipts. 
"Also, I have, as clearly as I could, shewn how to dye the different
shades of the 
same colour, and how to bring up the variety of tinges and hues of it."
And in his conclusion, Mr. Smith says, p. 12-- 
"If dyers were scientific men, dyeing might be explained in a scientific
manner; 
but as this is not the case, a treatise on dyeing requires the utmost simplicity
in its 
details, explanations, and direction-, so that a person may at once begin
to dye from 
reading the said treatise. In this respect the author presumes that this
work bears 
that character, and is designed more than any work previously written on
the art of 
dyeing, to afford better practical information on the subject. The reader
has pre- 
sented to him in three or four lines a receipt for dyeing a certain colour.
Has any 
scientific man ever done this? Never! Though a person may read twenty or
thirty 
pages in some works on dyeing, yet so complicated and round-about is their
method, 
that he can scarcely collect one idea on the true mode of dyeing any particular
colour; yea, it often happens that neither a learned man, nor an unlearned
man, can 
comprehend that which is supposed to be explained. 
" It is certainly difficult precisely to explain the nature and properties
of dye- 
wares. The proficient dyer himself has frequently to contend with difficulties;
for 
in bringing up particular hues he has sometimes to use certain articles,
to bring up 
the redness in a brown, drab, or olive, and in bringing up the red hue, the
yellow 
hue is put down, and the blue tinge is partly put down; sometimes by adding
the 
yellow part of the colour, the red and blue are both put down; at other times,
by 
adding the blue part, the yellow and red are put down. 
"Practice, however, is the school, and the only school, for making a
proficient 
dyer. In this work I have adopted a mode which will instruct the learner
better 
than any other work which I have yet seen or heard of. I have given every
class of 
colours, and the different shades of the same colour, in as much variety
as I could 
find calculated to be useful. 
"Some may say that the book does not contain much. Let such persons
examine 
the receipts, and they will find on calculation that they only average about
twopence 
halfpenny each; while some of them are invaluable, and could not be bought
at any 
price from those who are practising from them." 
The author, as he says, has attached to almost every receipt an actual specimen
proving its efficacy ; and every practical man must feel how valuable this
is, and how 
conducive to confidence in the receipt itself. The work, indeed, is a sort
of coun- 
terpart to the excellent L 'Impression des Tinus, by M. Persoz; and we cannot
too 
strongly advise every practical man to possess both of them. 
Mr. Smith prefaces his receipts with a short description of the dyewares
men- 
tioned in his work, which, having an interest for all readers, we may quote-