(3) Take oyster-shells and clean them with warm water; put them into the fire for ½ hour; at the end of that time take them out and let them cool. When quite cool, pound them fine, and take away any grey parts, as they are of no use. Put the powder in a crucible with alternate layers of flowers of sulphur. Put on the lid, and cement with sand made into a stiff paste with beer. When dry, put over the fire and bake for an hour. Wait until quite cold before opening the lid. The product ought to be white. You must separate all grey parts, as they are not luminous. Make a sifter in the following manner:—Take a pot, put a piece of very fine muslin very loosely across it, tie around with a string, put the powder into the top, and rake about until only the coarse powder remains; open the pot, and you will find a very small powder. Mix it into a thin paint with gum water, as two thin applications are better than one thick one. This will give paint that will remain luminous far into the night, provided it is exposed to the light during the day.
(4) Sulphides of calcium, of barium, of strontium, &c., give phosphorescent powders when duly heated. Each sulphide has a predominant colour, but the temperature to which it is heated has a modifying effect on the colour. Calcine in a covered crucible, along with powdered charcoal, sulphate of lime, sulphate of baryta, or sulphate of strontia; there is produced in each case a greyish white powder, which, after exposure to strong light (either sun-light or magnesium light), will be phosphorescent, the colour depending on the sulphate used and the degree of heat employed.
(5) Five parts of a luminous sulphide of an alkaline earth, 10 of fluorspar, cryolite, or other similar fluoride, 1 of barium borate; powdered, mixed, made into a cream with water, painted on the glass or stone article, dried, and fired in the usual way for enamels. If the article contains an oxide of iron, lead, or other metal, it must be first glazed with ground felspar, silica, lime phosphate, or clay, to keep the sulphur of the sulphide from combining with the metal. The result is an enamelled luminous article. (Heaton and Bolas.)
(6) Boil for 1 hour 2¼ oz. caustic lime, recently prepared by calcining clean white shells at a strong red heat, with 1 oz. pure sulphur (flowers) and 1 qt. soft water. Set aside in a covered vessel for a few days; then pour off the liquid, collect the clear orange-coloured crystals which have deposited, and let them drain and dry on bibulous paper. Place the dried sulphide in a clean graphite crucible provided with a cover. Heat for ½ hour at a temperature just short of redness, then quickly for about 15 minutes at a white heat. Remove cover, and pack in clay until perfectly cold. A small quantity of pure calcium fluoride is added to the sulphide before heating it. It may be mixed with alcoholic copal varnish. (Boston Jl. Chem.)
The luminous calcic sulphide (also called sulphide of calcium), now obtainable in the market, has a yellowish white tint, which considerably limits its direct application as a paint. On the other hand, the calcic sulphide, or the luminous paint obtained therefrom, loses its luminous property, if it is directly mixed with the ordinary commercial paints.
Schatte, of Dresden, produces durable white or coloured paints, containing a luminous substance which causes them to shine in the dark, without changing or neutralising in daylight the tint of the colouring substance or substances contained in such paints.
For this purpose, Zanzibar or cowrie copal is melted over a charcoal fire, 15 parts of this melted mass are dissolved in 60 parts of French turpentine, and the resulting mixture is filtered, whereupon 25 parts of pure linseed oil are added, which linseed oil has been previously boiled and allowed to cool a little. The lake varnish thus obtained is carefully treated in a paint mill with granite rollers, and worked into a luminous paint by one of the processes hereinafter described.
Iron rollers capable of giving off under great pressure small particles of iron, which might affect the luminous power, should not be used. Lake varnish as obtained in commerce contains nearly always lead or manganese, which would destroy the luminous power of the calcic sulphide.
The proportions given are as follows:—
Pure White: By mixing 40 parts of lake varnish obtained as described with 6 parts of prepared baric sulphate, 6 parts of prepared calcic carbonate, 12 parts of prepared zinc sulphide white, and 36 parts of calcic sulphide in a luminous condition, in an oil vessel, and worked into a coarse emulsion, which is then ground fine between the rollers.