TO DYE SCARLET.
Reading edition
Boil your hackles, &c., in a little crystal of tartar; procure two table-spoonfuls of cochineal, bruise them a little, and boil them gently over the fire for an hour or two; take the hackles you have just boiled in the tartar, and put them into the dye-pot, and simmer them slowly for some time, say half an hour; then take your "spirits of grain,"[I] and put into the dye-pot a tea-spoonful or a little more; take them out occasionally, and look at them between your eyes and the light, and when the right shade is obtained, rinse them and dry.
If you are in a hurry for scarlet, you may drop the particles of block-tin into aqua-fortis till they are dissolved, and add a little to the scarlet dye; the other is best, as it gives a more brilliant shade;—boil slow.
If the extract of bismuth is added to the red liquor of the cochineal in a small quantity, it will change it to a purple or violet colour.