THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
“It introduced me into a new world,” he 
said. ““ I devoured it.’ It almost made him 
forget his wedding. 
At 27, he became the chemist of the 
Oakenshaw Print Works. His salary, to 
begin with, was only 30s. a week. But he 
soon made it larger. He created new colours 
and new styles. His mill was soon over-sold. 
His employers were afraid of losing him, so 
they wisely made him a partner. The owners 
of the mill were two brothers named Fort. 
John Mercer had one of the most creative 
brains in Lancashire, which, in those days, 
was saying a good deal. He began to take 
out patents for all manner of things con- 
nected with the dyeing industry. 
In 1849 he sent a paper to the Royal 
Society. Then he was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society. He had become one of the 
ablest chemists in Europe. 
At 57, his firm was dissolved. He had 
made a fortune. He was now free to do as 
he had wanted to do for several years. He 
set out to experiment with the effect of 
caustic alkalis on cotton cloth. 
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