By 1868, however, the artificial manufacture of alizarine, first by two German chemists, and then by Perkin himself, served to open up another whole class of new dyestuffs, which, when submitted to the proper tests, proved to be exceedingly fast both to light and to washing. In consequence, within a few years after this discovery, the commercial use of madder was everywhere abandoned. Chemists could now produce on cotton, linen, wool, and silk, practically the whole range of colors, brilliant and dull, hard and soft, light and dark, not only of a beauty, but of a fastness to light and to washing, never before surpassed, if indeed equalled. [Illustration: AT THE AGE OF 14] [Illustration: AT THE AGE OF 22] [Illustration: AT THE TIME OF THE COAL-TAR COLOR JUBILEE—50 YEARS AFTER HIS DISCOVERY OF MAUVEINE SIR W. H. PERKIN] Since that time, not a year has gone by without scores of new dyestuffs being put on the market by some of the great color houses. Of late years special efforts have been made to simplify dyeing processes, and at the same time to insure the fastness as well as the beauty of the colors. At the present time it is possible for the veriest amateur, with practically no previous knowledge of chemistry or of dyeing, and with only intelligence enough to follow some simple directions, to get, in one bath, with very little expenditure of time, an immense variety of shades that are exceedingly fast to light and to washing. A very few years ago this result could not possibly have been obtained, except by some expert dyer, and then only after long and tedious, as well as difficult, processes. We are all familiar with the constant complaint that it is now impossible to get goods dyed or printed in good, fast colors. For instance, take the brilliant scarlet calico commonly known as Turkey red. In the days of our grandfathers a piece of cloth dyed Turkey red would stand rain and sun, washing and scouring, and the _fibre_ would wear out before the _color_ would fade. But nowadays, if you buy Turkey red cloth for the purpose of covering cushions for a piazza-lounge, you will be fortunate if the color does not begin to change after three or four days in the open air. The reason is simple. In the old days the _only_ way to get that particular shade was by dyeing the cloth with ground-up madder root, through a series of operations lasting the best part of two months. Now any capable dyer would be able to dye cotton that exact shade with any of, say, twenty different colors, most of which would not require more than one or two hours to dye. Out of these twenty dyestuffs, four or five, rather more expensive than the rest, would give just as fast, just as brilliant, and just as strong color as the good old madder color. But the rest, which are distinctly cheaper and easier to apply, would furnish goods which would _look_ exactly the same to the average purchaser, but which might not _last_ any time at all.