sessed by olive-oil soaps, either soft or hard. A
neutral olive-oil soft soap, owing to its solubility in cold water, may
be used for fibres coloured with most delicate dyes, which would be
fugitive in hot soap solutions, and this soap is employed for the most
expensive work.

Olive-oil curd (soda) soaps are in general use; those made from palm oil
are also recommended, although they are not so soluble as the olive-oil
soaps. Tallow curd soaps are sometimes used, but the difficulty with
which they dissolve is a drawback, and renders them somewhat unsuitable.

3. _Silk Industry._--Silk is secured to remove the sericin or silk-glue
and adhering matter from the raw silk, producing thereby lustre on the
softened fibre and thus preparing it for the dyer.

The very best soap for the purpose is an olive-oil soft soap; olive-oil
and oleine hard soaps may also be used. The soap is often used in
conjunction with carbonate of soda to assist the removal of the sericin,
but, whilst carbonates are permissible, it is necessary to avoid an
excess of caustic soda.

Tallow soaps are so slowly soluble that they are not applicable to the
scouring of silk.

The dyer of silk requires soap, which is neutral and of a pleasant
odour. The preference is given to neutral olive-oil soft soap, but hard
soaps (made from olive oil, oleine, or palm oil) are used chiefly on
account of cheapness. It is essential, however, that the soap should be
free from rosin on account of its frequent use and consequent
decomposition in the acid dye bath, when any liberated rosin acids would
cling to the silk fibres and produce disagreeable results.

_Patent Textile Soaps._--Stockhausen (Eng. Pat. 24,868, 1897) makes
special claim for a soap, termed Monopole Soap, to be used in place of
Turkey-red oils in the dyeing and printing of cotton goods and finishing
of textile fabrics. The soap is prepared by heating the sulphonated oil
(obtained on treatment of castor oil with sulphuric acid) with alkali,
and it is stated that the product is not precipitated when used in the
dye-bath as is ordinary soap, nor is it deposited upon the fibres.

Another patent (Eng. Pat. 16,382, 1897), has for its object the
obviating of the injurious effects upon wool, of alkali liberated from a
solution of soap. It is proposed to accomplish this by sulphonating part
of the fat used in making the soap.

_Miscellaneous Soaps._--Under this heading may be classed soaps intended
for specia