The whiteness of the pattern depends, of course, upon the skill with which the paste has been applied, and the care taken to prevent it from washing off before or during the dyeing process. It is difficult, though not absolutely impossible, to get as sharp and clear-cut results as those of the Japanese, for instance. But, on the other hand, with a dark background it is often, indeed generally, more pleasing to have the white patterns softened and not standing out too vividly. In our laboratory we have had considerable success with this process. And some of our friends and students have used it with very good results upon articles of clothing, which, made of linen, calico, etc., must be fast to severe washing as well as to light. Of course, it is perfectly easy to alter the color of the background, as in other classes of resist work, such as Tied and Dyed work, for instance, or Batik, by either starting off with colored cloth which is protected all through by the resist paste, or else by covering the stencilled and dyed goods, afterwards, with some shade which will soften and harmonize both pattern and background. For this covering shade, which need not be very fast to washing, but must be distributed uniformly over the whole cloth, the student will find the Salt colors very useful. _Discharge Stencilling._—Though it is not certain whether this process is known to, and used by, the Japanese, it is not a difficult matter, with modern dyes and modern chemicals, to get interesting results with it. There are two distinct and separate ways open to the dyer for discharging, i.e., destroying his dyestuffs, whether they are dyed on cloth, or whether, as is not infrequently the case with amateurs, they are present as a stain on his hands and fingers. In each case, however, care must be taken, as may easily be imagined, to use such chemicals as will spare the materials, whether cotton and linen, or nails and skin, while attacking the coloring matter. (a) _Discharge by Oxidation. Chlorine Compounds, Bleaching Powder, etc._—In the first place, chemists have long known that certain chemicals, more particularly the powerful gaseous element known as chlorine and certain of its compounds, have the power of permanently destroying coloring matters by oxidizing or burning them. At first this was done by using chlorine itself, or a water solution of chlorine. Later, however, it was found that on passing chlorine into some caustic alkali, like quicklime, or caustic soda, or caustic potash, these would absorb immense quantities of chlorine which would be again given out, as desired, on the addition of acid, or even, though very slowly and gradually, by the action of the carbonic acid gas in the air.