Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 September 1884 — A Curions Discovery. [ARTICLE]

A Curions Discovery.

Prof. Ritchel, of Bridgeport, Conn., believes that he has, through some novel experiments with the common household moth, discovered the method their indelible and brilliant colors. Prof. Ritchel claims that the worm which hatches from the egg of the miller produces an excrement the exact color and shade of the material it has eaten. Red flannel given to some worms on trial produced a shiny substance of the exact hue of the flannel; gray hair eaten by the worms produced a gray color, etc. A very small quantity of this excrement colored a large quantity of white lead with which it was mixed. A test for the indelibility of the coloring matter was made by exposing a plate .of it to the rain and weather for two months. According to Prof. Ritchel’s report, this exposure did not fade or change the color.