Mix
one of the parts in a convenient manner, put it in a pot and build a
fire beneath it. You will perceive whether the wood is cooked in the
following manner. When it boils, stir carefully and not in a disorderly
fashion, so that the woad does not sink down and ruin the kettle. When
the woad cracks in the middle the cooking is perfect. You should take
away the fire from the underneath, but should nevertheless stir within
the pot. Cool the under surface of the pot by sprinkling with cold
water. Then take and put in the vat a half a choenix of soap weed. Pour
enough of the cooked woad over (it), lay poles or reeds over the edge
of the vat, cover with mats and build a moderate fire under it so that
it does not boil over and {yet) does not become cold. Leave it 3 days.
Boil up urine with soap weed, skim off the scum, and put in boiled
wool. Then rinse off in a convenient manner, press out, card it, and
put the wool in the dye liquor. When it appears to you to be right,
take the wool out, cover up the vat again and build a fire beneath it
in the same way. Put 2 minas of archil in the liquid, after you have
boiled the archil and in doing so have skimmed off the scum. Then put
the dyed wool in. Rinse off in salt water and cool it off. Dye in blue
twice a day, morning and evening, as long as the dye liquor is
serviceable.
107. Dyeing in Rose Color.
Rose
color is dyed in the following way. Smear the rolls of wool with ashes,
untie them, and wash the wool in the liquid from potter's clay. Rinse
it out and mordant it as previously described. Rinse it out in salt
water after mordanting and use rain water (which is so) warm that you
cannot put your hand in it. Then take for each mina.of wool a quarter
of a mina of roasted and finely pulverized madder and a quarter of a
choenix of bean meal. Mix these together by the addition of white oil,
pour it into the kettle and stir up. Put the wool in the kettle and
again stir incessantly so that it becomes uniform. When it appears to
you to have absorbed the dye liquor, however, brighten it by means of
alum, rinse it out again m salt water, and dry it in the shade with
protection from smoke.
108. Dyeing with Archil.
To
dye with archil. Wash the wool as is previously described. For a mina
of wool-take 4 chus of urine and a half a mina of alum. Mix these, and
at the same time make a fire beneath them until they boil up. Put the
wool in and stir incessantly, but when the wool sinks down and the
liquor subsides then rinse the wool out. Boil in drinking water three
times as much archil as the weight of the wool, take the archil out,
put the wool in and stir up uniformly until the wool becomes soaked.
Then pulverize a quarter of a mina of chal-canthum for each mina of
wool and mix them. Stir up incessantly and thereby make the wool
uniform. Then take it out, rinse out and let the wool dry as in other
cases.
109. Dyeing in Phoenician Color with Archil.
Roll
up the wool and sift ashes over it. Separate the rolls in a convenient
manner and again sift ashes over them until the wool becomes clean and
branny. Shake it out on the following day and rinse it out. After the
washing, boil it with 6 chus of salt water for each mina of wool, mix
in half a mina of alum and mordant the wool therein in the way
mentioned. Rinse it out. Then cook, in rainwater, until it boils,
three times as much archil as the weight of the wool. Pour in goat's
milk and stir up. Put the wool in and stir again until the color is
thoroughly soaked in. Then take the wool out, rinse it and dry it, but
in doing so protect it from smoke.
110. Dyeing in Bright Red Purple.
To
dye in genuine bright red purple grind archil and take 5 cyathi of the
juice for a mina of wool. If you wish a bright tint mix in ground
natron (and) if you desire a still brighter one, chalcanthum.
111. From the Book of Africanus: Preparation of Bright Red Purple.
Take and put the mordanted wool into 1 choenix of krimnos and 4 choenices of archil.
