[Illustration]
Many attempts have been made to facilitate the penetration of textile
fabrics by the dyeing and bleaching solutions, with which they require to
be treated, by carrying out the treatment in vacuo, _i.e._, in such
apparatus as shall allow of the air being withdrawn. The apparatus shown
in the annexed engraving--Austrian Pat. Jan. 15, 1884--although not
essentially different from those already in use, embodies, the _Journal of
the Society of Chemical Industry_ says, some important improvements in
detail. It consists of a drum A, the sides of which are constructed of
stout netting, carried on a vertical axis working through a stuffing-box,
which is fitted in the bottom of the outer or containing vessel or keir B.
The air can be exhausted from B by means of an air pump. A contains a
central division P, also constructed of netting, into which is inserted
the extremity of the tube R, after being twice bent at a right angle. P is
also in direct connection with the efflux tube E, E and R serving to
convey the dye or bleach solutions to and from the reservoir C. The
combination of the rotary motion communicated to A, which contains the
goods to be dyed or bleached, with the very thorough penetration and
circulation of the liquids effected by means of the vacuum established in
B, is found to be eminently favorable to the rapidity and evenness of the
dye or bleach.
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