Abstract
In October 1852, Heinrich Caro gained entry to Berlin’s Königliches Gewerbeinstitut, the leading trade school of Prussia. Two years earlier the school had introduced a chemistry course, one that catered for young men intending to pursue careers in local industries. The emphasis was on chemical technology, analysis, and laboratory work.1 Caro also enrolled in a chemistry course at the University of Berlin. By this time, however, Caro’s parents were in poor financial shape. Heinrich was too proud to request assistance from wealthier family members, but was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Seydlitz foundation. This came about in part because of Heinrich’s mathematical capabilities, demonstrated during one of the first lectures he attended at the Gewerbeinstitut. The lecturer, college director Nikolaus Druckenmüller, was so impressed with his student’s performance that he immediately arranged for the stipend, and continued to encourage Heinrich Caro throughout his time at the college.2
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References
F. W. Nottebohm, Chronik der Königlichen Gewerbe-Akademie zu Berlin. Festschrift zur Feier des Fünfzigjährigen Bestehens der Anstalt (Berlin, 1871), 29.
See Caro to Lürmann, 4 March 1904, DM NL93/10/3. The mathematical ability was in the use of the Quetelet equation that Caro had just learned for his final examination at the Realgymnasium.
Rammelsberg and Magnus had joined the Gewerbeinstitut in 1850, but retained their links with the University of Berlin, where Magnus had been appointed a full professor in 1845, and Rammelsberg an associate professor in 1846. For the role of academic chemists in German polytechnics see Ernst Homburg, Van beroep ‘Chemiker: ‘ De opkomst van de industriële chemicus en het polytechnische onderwijs in Duitsland (1790–1850) (“‘Chemiker’ by Occupation: The Rise of the Industrial Chemist and Polytechnic Education in Germany (1790–1850)”) (Delft: Delftse Universitaire Pers, 1993).
“Lehr- und Wanderjahre,” bound with “Erinnerungen an Dr. Heinrich Caro” (hereafter cited as “Erinnerungen”), unpublished volumes of typescript and other documents, including transcriptions of reminiscences by Caro, DM NL93/10, 27.
“Erster kindlicher Versuch einer Patentanmeldung, Berlin 1854,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 28–29.
Caro to Lürmann, 4 March 1904, DM NL93/10/3; August Bernthsen, “Heinrich Caro,” Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft 45 (1912): 1987–2042, on 1988, where Bernthsen recorded that a special state school devoted to dyeing and calico printing was proposed.
“Seine Leistungen in allen wissenschaftlichen Unterrichtsgegenständen waren ungewöhnlich gross, seine Arbeiten im Laboratorium, worin er sich teilweise schon mit selbständigen Untersuchungen beschäftigte, hatten einen umso besseren Erfolg, als er bereits vor seinem Eintritt in das Gewerbe-Institut sich mit chemischen Analysen beschäftigt hatte.” Bound with “Erinnerungen,” 30.
Ernst Homburg, “The Influence of Demand on the Emergence of the Dye Industry. The Roles of Chemists and Colourists,” Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists 99 (1983): 325–33.
See also Ernst Homburg, “From Colour Maker to Chemist: Episodes from the Rise of the Colourist, 1670–1800,” Natural Dyestuffs and Industrial Culture in Europe, 1750–1880, eds. Robert Fox and Agusti NietoGalan (Canton, Mass.: Science History Publications, 1999), 219–57.
Charles O’Neill, The Practice and Principles of Calico Printing, Bleaching, Dyeing, etc., 2 vols. (Manchester: Palmer & Howe, 1878), vol. 2, 108.
[H.] Edward Schunck, R. Angus Smith, and Henry E. Roscoe, “On the Recent Progress and Present Condition of Manufacturing Chemistry in the South Lancashire District,” in Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Manchester, September 1861 (London: John Murray, 1862), 125.
August Wilhelm Hofmann, “Colouring Derivatives of Organic Matter, Recent and Fossilised,” in Reports of the Juries, International Exhibition, London, 1862, Class II, Section A, “Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products and Processes,” eds. J. S. Iselin and P. Le Neve Foster (London: Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, 1863), 114.
Edward Baines, Junior, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (London: H. Fisher, R. Fisher & P. Jackson [1835]), 272.
Patterned effects were achieved by printing a resist, or reserve, paste onto the bleached fabric. The cloth was then dyed, the resist paste removed, and other colours added to the white areas with hand blocks or by painting. Bleaching agents were used to remove (discharge) the madder colour from areas of dyed cloth. Other colours could then be applied to the bleached areas. See Anthony S. Travis, “Between Broken Root and Artificial Alizarin: The Textile Arts and Manufactures of Madder,” History and Technology 11 (1994): 1–21, esp. 6–7,
and Anthony S. Travis, From Turkey Red to Tyrian Purple: Textile Colours for the Industrial Revolution (Jerusalem: Jewish National and University Library, 1993).
William Crookes, A Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico-Printing, 2 vols. (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1874), vol. 2, 273.
Girardin also recommended colorimetry, in which the colour of a carefully made up solution of madder with alum was compared with a standard solution made up with pure madder.
Bernthsen, “Heinrich Caro,” 1988.
“Geschäftsvertrag,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 3 3–3 5, on 33.
“Geschäftsvertrag,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 33.
One Thaler was equivalent to about 1 2/3 florin or gulden.
“Geschäftsvertrag,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 34. See also Annemarie Diem and Otto P. Krätz, “Vom Alchimistenherd zur BASF. Die Lehrjahre Heinrich Caros,” Die BASF 24 (1974): 3–10.
In 1839, Prussian colourists received between 800 and 1600 Thaler per annum. This was often considerably higher than the pay of a well-established chemistry professor. Thus in 1849, Bunsen at Marburg received 1,200 Thaler. The salary differentials between colourists and academic chemists are discussed in Ernst Homburg, “The Influence of Demand on the Emergence of the Dye Industry,” 328.
Also, the proprietors had the right to dismiss Caro at any time if he broke this agreement, or if he broke any laws. Clause twelve noted that any period of absence from the factory made necessary by military service would be added to the three years specified in the contract. The proprietors agreed to allow Caro fourteen days for vacation each year. He was also required to bring written approval of the conditions of employment from his father, Simon Caro. “Geschäftsvertrag,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 34–35.
Schunck, Smith and Roscoe, “On the Recent Progress and Present Condition of Manufacturing Chemistry,” 120.
“Erinnerungen,” 36.
“... mit der sicheren Erwartung, dass er sich in allen Teilen der industriellen
chemischen Praxis leicht orientieren und allen Anforderungen Genüge leisten werde, welche man an einen gründlich gebildeten technischen Chemiker stellt.” “Auszug aus dem Abgangszeugniss vom Gewerbe-Institut,” bound with “Erinnerungen,” 31.
“Erinnerungen,” 32.
Bernthsen, “Heinrich Caro,” 1989.
Bernthsen, “Heinrich Caro,” 1988.
Hand block printing had earlier been improved through the application of blocks in large presses, but the cloth had to be hand fed. Though the perrotine was fully mechanised, its vertical action restricted the design repeat. The block was pressed against a sieve, fed with mordant or dye, which was then moved aside, and then pressed against the cloth, after which the printed cloth was moved forward and the process repeated. Printing from up to six blocks at the same time enabled several colours to be applied in a single step. Perrotines were popular in France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Belgium. They were also used to a lesser extent elsewhere, including in England, where ten were employed at the Deeply Vale Printing Co. near Bury during the 1840s. However, this was quite exceptional for England. See A. V. Sandiford and T. E. Ashworth, The Forgotten Valley (Bury: Bury and District Local History Society, 1981), 32–33;
and Geert Verbong, “The Dutch Calico Printing Industry between 1870 and 1875,” in Natural Dyestuffs and Industrial Culture in Europe, 1750–1880, 193–218.
“Fabrik der L[o]uisenthaler Aktien-Gesellschaft für Spinnerei, Weberei & Druckerei, Nr. II, 1858–1859,” DM, item 37927, 74–98. See also Otto P. Krätz and Annemarie Diem, “Heinrich Caro: Die Louisenthaler Actiengesellschaft in Mülheim an der Ruhr—eine kombinierte Naturfarbstoff-Fabrik und Färberei zur Zeit der ersten Anilinfarben,” Chemie, Experiment & Didaktik 2 (1976): 179–86.
“Fabrik der Louisenthaler Actiengesellschaft, 1856–1857,” DM, item 37926.
Resin soap was made by reacting resin-containing (colophony) acids with alkalis, and used almost exclusively in the textile industry for madder-related processes and after calico printing. For a description of the bleaching of cloth that was subsequently to be printed, see Edmund Knecht, Christopher Rawson, and Richard Lowenthal, A Manual of Dyeing: For the Use of Practical Dyers, Manufacturers, Students, and All Interested in the Art of Dyeing, 2 vols. (London: Charles Griffm, 7th. ed., 1922), vol. 1, 93–94.
Caro’s notebook, DM item no. 37925 (1858 or 1859), 104–21 (singeing) and 128–93 (bleaching). For bleaching, see also notebook no. 37927, 61–206. The resin soap was the critical part of this so-called original madder bleach process because it ensured that the cloth was cleared of stains in unmordanted parts after printing.
Travis, “Between Broken Root.”
“Collectaneen, Heinrich Caro, 1857,” DM, item no. 37924. Despite the 1857 date, this notebook contains references to articles for the period 1856–59. See also printed samples in DM, item no. 37926, 127–67.
DM, item no. 37925, 1–8, where tables for dye consumption for 1856, 1857, and 1858 are drawn up. The Prussian pound was fixed at 0.4677 kg after the post-Napoleonic reform. It was also supposed to be two Cologne Marks, which was actually slightly lighter in weight.
DM, item no. 37925, 28.
DM, item no. 37925, 29.
DM, item no. 37925, 29–31.
DM, item no. 37925, 28.
DM, item no. 37925, 32–60. See also Krätz and Diem, “Heinrich Caro.”
“Collectaneen, Heinrich Caro, 1857,” 110–15. For murexide, see Anthony S. Travis, “Artificial Dyes in John Lightfoot’s Broad Oak Laboratory,” Ambix 42 (1995): 10–27.
Almost certainly A. Kellermann, who on 28 July 1858 took out a patent in London for obtaining extracts of flowers and leaves of the elm tree for use as dyes. From instructions of Max Troost to Heinrich Caro, “Für meine erste Reise nach Manchester, März 1857,” on notepaper of “Die Louisenthaler Actien-Gesellschaft für Druckerei, Weberei & Spinnerei,” bound with “Erinnerungen.”
“Chemische Arbeiten, H. Caro, 1855,” DM, item no. 37917. This notebook, which appears to be written up in French and German by several hands, contains an enormous number of recipes for using dyes (mainly for textiles, but including other applications, such as coloration of feathers).
Anthony S. Travis, “Artificial Dyes in John Lightfoot’s Broad Oak Laboratory.”
Bernthsen, “Heinrich Caro,” 1990, who suggests that Caro also visited Meyer’s factory laboratory.
For August Leonhardt (1827–99), see Die Chemische Industrie 22 (1899): 341–42.
DM, item no. 37927, 12–25. See also Krätz and Diem, “Heinrich Caro.”
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Reinhardt, C., Travis, A.S. (2000). Calico Printing in Mülheim. In: Heinrich Caro and the Creation of Modern Chemical Industry. Chemists and Chemistry, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9353-3_2
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