COLORED INKS Colored Writing Inks.—Inks may be made of almost any color by the use of suitable dyestuffs. The vari ety and beauty of colored inks have been greatly increased by the discov ery of the coal-tar products, known as aniline dyes. These are now in common use under various trade names.
Red Ink.—Red ink may be made out of cochineal or Brazil wood, or the coal-tar colors known as puchsin, magenta, or eosin. These are readily soluble in water, but should have a few drops of corrosive sublimate or other antiseptic added to prevent mold. Eosin inks copy freely, but fade if exposed to sunlight.
To make red ink, bring 1 gallon of the best vinegar to 22 boil with gentle heat, add 1 pound of Brazil wood, and simmer for half an hour. Stir in / pound of powdered alum and strain through cheese cloth. Add gill of fresh gall to each quart of the ink. Cork tightly in glass bottles.
Or boil for 1 hour 4 ounces of ground Brazil wood in 1 pint of di luted acetic acid (1 part pure acid to 10 parts water). Add ounce of alum, strain, and add 1 ounce of gum arabic dissolved in a little hot water. Use copper or enamel ware for the above.
Or dissolve 10 grains of the best carmine lake in the least possible quantity of ammonia. Let stand 24 hours and dilute with 21 fluid ounces of distilled water.
Or boil 2 ounces of powdered cochineal and 2 ounces of cream of tartar with 8 ounces of water until dissolved. Strain, and add 1 ounce or a little more of carbonate of potas sium. Stir in 1 ounce of alum and 1 ounce of gum arabic dissolved in a little boiling water. Additional car bonate of potassium will darken the color of the ink.
Blue Ink.—Take 2 ounces of Prus sian blue crystals and cover with hy drochloric acid. Stir or shake the mixture thoroughly, pour off the acid through a suitable strainer, and pour on water to rinse the blue completely free of the acid. Dry the crystals, mix with an equal quantity of oxalic acid in fine powder, and thin with dis tilled water to the color desired.
Or dissolve indigo carmine in water.
Or mix 2 ounces of ferrocyanide of iron and 2 ounces of strong hydro chloric acid. Dissolve and dilute with soft water.
Or mix 1 ounce of powdered Prus sian blue with 11 fluid ounces of muriatic acid. Dilute with water.
Violet Ink. — Dissolve with gentle heat 1 ounce of methyl-violet aniline in 1 gill of alcohol. Stir until thor oughly dissolved. Then add 1 gallon of boiling water. This is a vivid, beautiful violet, which flows smoothly and dries quickly, but will fade if ex posed to sunlight. It is the common violet ink of commerce.
Green Ink. —Dissolve 1 ounce of iodine-green aniline in 1 gill of hot alcohol, and dilute with 2 quarts of soft water. This is a vivid and beau tiful color which will yield several copies, and is very little faded by sun light.
Or dissolve 2 ounces of verdigris and 1 ounce of cream of tartar in 8 ounces of soft water, and boil until the right shade is reached.
Or mix 1 ounce of crystallized ace tate of copper with 1 pint of soft water.
Or rub together 3/ drams of solu ble Prussian blue and 3 drams of gamboge with 2 ounces of mucilage, and dilute with 1 pint of soft water.
Yellow Ink. — Dissolve yellow or orange aniline colors in boiling water.
Or boil 1 pound of French berries with 2 ounces of alum in 1 gallon of water until the color is sufficiently strong. Strain, and add 4 ounces of gum arabic.
Show-card Inks.—Any of the above colored inks may be used for show cards if desired, or dissolve 1/ ounces of gum arabic in 8 ounces of water, and while hot strain through cheese cloth. Mix with this ordinary paint ers' colors, either dry or ground in oils, and apply with a brush. To make a show card permanent, brush it over with a thin glue size, lay on the ink with a brush, and finish with a hard, white varnish.
To mix various colors of ink for different tints, see under " Paints and Painting." Gold, Silver, and Bronze Inks are prepared by grinding thin sheets of the metal on a glass plate with a lit tle honey to reduce them to a fine powder. This powder is then laid on filter paper, washed with hot water to remove the honey, and dissolved in a solution of gum arabic for use.
The writing may be done with a nearly colorless glue size, and the fine bronze, gold, or silver powder may be dusted over it while the size is still wet.