Dyes and Dyeing #266313

As a result of this ignoring and scorning of the wonderful results of modern science in its applica tion to this most important industry, the work of textile craftsmen all over the world is far behind the times, and comparatively far behind other lines of craftwork. Nobody expects a modern sculptor to do his carving with the bronze tools used by the old Athenians; nor do we consider that the present day worker in metals should refrain from using the modern gas furnace, or limit his products to the few metals and alloys known in the Middle Ages, ignoring those which modern chemistry has developed. And yet, all over the world, craftsmen are still pottering with long since obsolete dyestuffs and obscure and antiquated formulae, instead of spending their energies in getting, with the minimum expenditure of time and trouble, results of a quality never dreamed of by the most skilful dyers of half a century ago. As a matter of fact, so far from Mr. Ruskin's estimate of the value of ancient dyes being correct, it, is actually no more than fair to say that hardly a single dyeing process, known and used more than fifty years ago, is of the slightest practical importance now to any one.