About fifty years ago, Chevreul showed what these accessory causes
are, by exposing to light a number of dyed colors under varied
conditions, e.g., in a vacuum, in dry and moist hydrogen, dry and
moist air, water vapor, and the ordinary atmosphere. He found that
such fugitive colors as orchil, safflower, and indigo-carmine fade
very rapidly in moist air, less rapidly in dry air, and that they
experience little or no change in hydrogen or in a vacuum. The general
conclusion arrived at was, that light, when acting alone, i.e.,
without the aid of air and moisture, exercises a very feeble
influence. Further, it was determined that the air and moisture,
without aid of light, have also comparatively little effect on dyed
colors. Abney and Russell, in their experiments with water colors,
obtained similar results.
These conclusions are exactly in accordance with our common knowledge
of the old fashioned method of bleaching cotton and linen, in which
the wetted fabric is exposed to light on the grass, and frequently
sprinkled with water. If the material becomes dry through the absence
of dew or rain, or the want of sprinkling, little or no bleaching
takes place.
The one color which Chevreul found to behave abnormally was Prussian
blue.
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