Logwood

“ When all was ready, he went aboard a New England ship, and sailed for Campeachy, where he settled "in the West Creek of the West Lagoon" with some old logwood cutters who knew the trade. [222]
Logwood cutting was then a very profitable business, for the wood fetched from £70 to £100 a ton in the European markets. The wood is very dense, and so heavy that it sinks in water. The work of cutting it, and bringing it to the ships, in the rough Campeachy country, where there were no roads, was very hard. The logwood cutters were, therefore, men of muscle, fond of violent work. ”

“ One of the most important of all the natural dye substances, especially for the production of blacks, is logwood. The color is really a red, but with the common mordants it forms blue, violet or black shades. Logwood, or campeachy wood, as it is sometimes called, is the product of a large tree growing in the West Indies, and Central and South America. When freshly cut, the wood is practically without color, but when exposed to the air it soon becomes a dark reddish-brown on the surface. ”

“ As an article of export, logwood ranks next to mahogany, of which the best is found in the region of the Usumacinta. It is not a large tree, fifteen to twenty feet high, and much easier to handle than the mahogany. The dark heartwood alone is used. ”

“ Farther inland the difficulty of transportation makes the marketing of the logs an expensive undertaking, although the standing trees can be purchased from the government for a very small sum. The logwood tree, as well as other dyewoods, is found bordering on all the great lagoons and some portions of the Gulf coast. It is a tree of medium size and peculiar appearance, attaining a height of twenty or thirty feet. The trunk is gnarled and full of cavities, and separates a short distance above the ground. The heart, the only valuable portion, is a deep red. ”

“ So unpretending this color appears, so difficult is it to produce, and it requires a considerable amount of practice and good judgment to bring out a good color from the beginning, as very little too much or too little will spoil a color either in tone or in shade. A very good logwood gray, which with proper attention seldom fails to turn out satisfactory, is made as follows: Prepare a hot bath, to which add a small quantity of decoction of logwood; enter the feathers and work them in the bath for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to shade desired. ”

“ He now began to keep a regular journal, which tells us of his adventures while engaged as a logwood-cutter. They are amongst the most interesting of his life, while his notes on the natural history of the country show his accuracy as an observer. The logwood-cutters varied their occupation by hunting the wild cattle, and on one occasion Dampier nearly perished by having lost his way in the woods. During his wanderings he had the unpleasant reflection that a short time before six or seven of the crew of a Boston ship had died, in the vain endeavour to find their way to the shore. ”

“ To facilitate the extraction of the colouring matter by water logwood is frequently sold in chips. Many dye-wood grinders moisten logwood with lime water; this gives the powder a better colour, but diminishes the yield of colouring matter. Since the only useful constituent of logwood can be extracted by treatment with water, and the wood is only a carrier of the colouring matter, which is only useful for fuel when exhausted, logwood extracts are largely used in place of the wood. The extracts are black resin-like masses, which easily dissolve in water ”

“ Logwood is the heart-wood of Haematoxylon campechianum, a tree growing in Central America. It is the most important natural dyewood at present employed, being largely used for dyeing dark blues and black on silk, wool and cotton. With chromium and aluminium mordants logwood dyes a dark blue, and even black; with tin, a dark purple; and with iron, black. The colours are only moderately fast to light. On wool the mordant is bichromate of potash; on cotton and silk an iron mordant is employed. ”

“ It is this hydrated chromic oxide in the fibre that yields with the Hæmatein of the logwood your logwood black dye. Mr. Jarmain finds that it is not safe to use more than 3 per cent. (of the weight of the wool) of bichromate; if 4 per cent. be used, the colour becomes impaired, whilst if 12 per cent. be employed, the wool cannot be dyed at all with logwood, the phenomenon known as "over-chroming" being the result of such excessive treatment. ”

“ Hamburg also imports annually about 20,000 tons of logwood.
Uses—Logwood in the form of decoction is occasionally administered in chronic diarrhœa, and especially in the diarrhœa of children. Cases have occurred in which its use has been followed by phlebitis. Its employment in the art of dyeing is far more important.
Adulteration—The woods of several species of Cæsalpinia imported under the name of Brazil Wood and used for dyeing red, bear an external resemblance to logwood, with which it is said they are sometimes mixed in the form of chips. ”

“ For each pound of logwood, dissolve an ounce of blue vitriol in lukewarm water sufficient to wet the goods. Dip the goods in—when saturated with it, turn the whole into the logwood dye. If the goods are cotton, set the vessel on the fire, and let the goods boil ten or fifteen minutes, stirring them constantly to prevent their spotting. Silk and woollen goods should not be boiled in the dye-stuff, but it should be kept at a scalding heat for twenty minutes. ”

“ Boil in seven gallons of water one pound four ounces of logwood for one hour; take three gallons of the logwood liquor and dip your yarn in it for twenty minutes, then add three quarts of the logwood liquor and dip for twenty minutes, then put in the remainder and dip for twenty minutes, then wring out and dry your yarn.”
The wringing process given in the last two recipes is for cotton yarn; cotton cloth or woollen cloth should never be wrung out; simply lift it from the dye with two sticks, immerse it in clear cold water, if you are to rinse it, then hang it up and let it drip. ”

“ Almost any odd shades of color can be used without extracting colors, but if dirty or greasy, it is always best to wash thoroughly and rinse. Take your old logwood bath that has been used for black and other colors, or else boil a fresh bath of the same proportions, about a pound to the gallon. When at boiling temperature add thereto a half cupful of extract of archil, first removing the grounds of logwood from the bath; then enter your feathers and let them remain in the bath about four or five minutes ”

“ The best superfine black should have a full ground of mazarine blue previously to being finished black.
{91} A great quantity of cloth and other articles have, however, no indigo ground, but a ground of logwood, or of logwood and alder-bark, or of logwood and old fustic, or of logwood, alder-bark, and old fustic, all boiled together, and sometimes they are boiled in a decoction of oak saw-dust.
Indigo for the ground is the richest drug, in carbon, that is or can be used; logwood is next to it: too much logwood, however, whether indigo be used with it or not, gives the black a foxy hue ”

“ The solution of the logwood colouring matter produces handsome lakes, all of which have, however, the inconvenient property of acquiring an ugly grey colour on long standing. The finest and most durable of the logwood lakes is known as violet lake, which is made with alumina salts. The best result is obtained when a solution of aluminium acetate, obtained by precipitating alum with lead acetate, is mixed with a logwood decoction or a solution of logwood extract. ”

“ They give blacks of a very solid appearance and very bright in tone, and have the advantage over the logwood blacks of leaving the wool more supple and less liable to be felted. Moreover, as a rule they are faster to acids, alkalies and milling than are the logwood blacks, and as regards fastness to light they excel that dye-stuff. Unfortunately they are more costly to use, which tells against their entirely displacing logwood in dyeing blacks on wool. ”

“ It will not answer for any thing but wool or silk, as the vitriol will destroy linen or cotton.
To Dye Cotton Blue.
Boil a pound of chipped logwood in water enough to cover the cotton; take out half a gallon, and dissolve in it an ounce of verdigris, and one of alum; boil the yarn in the logwood water an hour, stirring it, and keeping it loose; then take it out, and mix in the verdigris; put back the yarn, and let it boil four hours, stir all the time, and take it out every hour to give it air, dry it in the sun, and the next day boil it in soap-suds. ”

“ The colouring principle of logwood exists in the timber in the form of a glucoside, from which it is liberated as haematoxylin by fermentation. Haematoxylin, C16H14O6, was isolated by M. E. Chevreul in 1810. ”

“ Boil 1⁄2 pound of logwood chips in 3 quarts of water, and add 1 ounce of pearlash. Apply this whilst hot, then boil 1⁄2 pound of logwood chips in 3 quarts of water, and add 1⁄2 ounce verdigris, 1⁄2 ounce copperas, strain the liquid, and then add 1⁄2 pound rusty steel filings and some powdered nutgalls, and with this go over the wood a second time. When dry, the work is to be well rubbed down, and if the color should appear uneven, the second stain must be repeated, in which case it must be again rubbed down. ”

“ For Mahogany Stain.—Take eight ounces of madder, two ounces of logwood chips and boil these in about one gallon of water. Apply while hot, and when dry paint over with a solution of two drachms of pearlash in one quart of water. Afterwards size and polish.
To Stain Wood Black.—Take logwood nine parts, sulphate of iron one part, water 25 parts. Apply as the others. It is best to get all ingredients made up at the chemists in the exact quantities, as too much or too little of any one ingredient may spoil the whole. ”

“ Boil two handfuls of logwood with a little sumach and elder bark for an hour; put in the hackles or feathers, and boil very gently. Put in a little bruised copperas, a little argil, and some soda; leave the feathers in for some hours with a gentle heat, then wash the dye well out of them, dry and{243} dress them. The argil and soda must be used sparingly.
To Dye Lavender, or Blue Dun.
Boil ground logwood with bruised nutgalls and a little copperas. The shade of color may be varied by using more or less of the materials. ”

“ One piece of outdoor work I have continued religiously, for the reason, no doubt, that I love wood fires, even in warm weather. I never neglect my wood-stack, the foundations of which were laid for me by Isaiah Fetch. Every day I take axe and saw and cut a certain amount of logwood. My hearth will take logs of just four feet in length, and I feed it royally. The wood costs nothing ”

“ It is a valuable astringent, and its decoction, extract, and infusion are useful remedies in chronic diarrhœa and dysentery, and in hæmorrhages, &c. The extract is an efficient substitute for catechu and kino.
Logwood is extensively employed in dyeing and calico printing, for the production of reds, violets, purples, blacks, drabs, &c. It readily yields its colour both to spirit and boiling water. The colouring matter requires a large quantity of water to dissolve it, but when dissolved can be concentrated to any degree by boiling down. ”

“ For a light stain, mix two ounces of madder and one of fustic in a quart of water, and boil them all together; a darker stain is made by using half an ounce of logwood in the place of the madder, and then brushing the wood with a weak solution of potash.
All hard woods are easily polished; first, they are made perfectly smooth and even, with the turning tools, after which rub them with sand paper, then with Dutch rushes, which, to prevent their breaking into small pieces, should be steeped in water. ”

“ It should be installed in conformity with the manufacturer’s directions, taking care to select a stock-size unit suitable for the dimensions of the fireplace opening and to erect the surrounding masonry accordingly.
OILING AND PAINTING
After all the openings have been properly calked and the logs brushed clean, it is often desirable, although not absolutely necessary, to treat the log surfaces with some sort of preservative material. Logwood oil is excellent for the exterior. ”

“ A fast Logwood Blue for Wool.
(Highland recipe) . Mordant with 3% Bichromate of Potash and boil wool in it for 11⁄2 hours. Wash and dry wool. Make a bath of 15 to 20% logwood with about 3% chalk added to it. Boil the wool for 1 hour, wash and dry. The wool can be greened by steeping it all night in a hot solution of heather, or boiling it in heather till the desired tint is obtained.
18) . Green Black for Wool.
(For 50 lbs. wool) . Boil 20 minutes with 1 lb. chrome. Dye with 20 lbs. Fustic, 8 lbs. logwood. Boil for 1⁄2 hour.
19) . Slate Purple.
(For 80 lbs. yarn) . Mordant with 2 lbs. ”

“ This is done in the dry season, the rainy period being taken for the shipment of the logs, which are conveyed chiefly to the island of Carmen in the Laguna de Terminos in South-western Yucatan, and to Frontera on the mouths of the Tabasco river, at which places European ships receive cargoes of the wood.
In 1877 the export of Laguna de Terminos amounted to 528,605 quintals (one quintal = 46 kilogrammes) , that from Port-au-Prince, Hayti, in 1872, nearly to 90,000 tons.
Four sorts of logwood are found in the London market, namely Campeachy, quoted [831] at £8 10s. to £9 10s. per ton ”

“ The tree attains a height not exceeding 40 ft., and is said to be ready for felling when about ten years old. The wood, deprived of its bark and the sap-wood, is sent into the market in the form of large blocks and billets. ”

“ The real curiosity of this region is a logging camp. The redwood country is astonishingly broken; the mountain sides are often almost precipitous; and on these steep sides the redwood grows tall and straight and big beyond the belief of an Eastern man. The trees do not occupy the whole ground, but share it with laurels, dogwood, a worthless kind of oak, occasionally pine, and smaller wood. It is a kind of jungle; and the loggers, when they have felled a number of trees, set fire to the brush in order to clear the ground before they attempt to draw the logs to the water. ”