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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22790, 27 January 1936, Page 11

The first discovery of a blue pigment for over 100 years has been announced. The two blues most widely used at the present time are ultramarine, discovered in 1704, and Prussian blue, discovered in 1826. The new colour, which is known as Monastral fast blue, was discovered by the chemists of British dyestuffs, now a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. It is claimed for this new blue that it alone’ fulfils all the qualifications demanded of a pigment—namely, fastness to light, heat, acids, and alkalis, chemical inertia, high tinctorial value, and brilliance of shade. Until now blue has been the most difficult colour in the whole spectrum range, and none has given complete satisfaction owing to its lack of one or more of the qualities mentioned in the preceding sentence. It seems likely, therefore, that Monastral blue w r i!l have generally far-reaching effects on colour-using induetries.