242 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



lb. oz. 



Coal ....... ioo o 



Coal-tar ...... 10 12 



Coal-tar-naphtha o 8$ 



Benzol ....... o 2§ 



Aniline ...... o i\ 



Mauve o o| 



but in spite of the small yield, the high price obtainable for the 

 dye fully recompensed for this, as we are informed that the 

 price of mauve in those early days was equal, weight for weight, 

 to that of platinum. 



The real " boom " in the popularity of mauve appears to 

 have occurred after it had been on the market for two years, 

 namely in 1859, and Punch for that year contains a reference 

 to the craze for the new colour under the heading of " The 

 Mauve Measles " : 



" Lovely woman is just now afflicted with a malady which 

 apparently is spreading to so serious an extent that it is high 

 time to consider by what means it may be checked. 



" There are many who regard it as of purely English growth, 

 and from the effect which it produces on the mind contend 

 that it must be treated as a mild form of insanity. 



" Other learned men, however, including Dr. Punch, are 

 disposed rather to view it as a kind of epidemic, and to ascribe 

 its origin entirely to the French. . . .Dr. Punch is of opinion 

 that it is not so much a mania as a species of measles ! 



" The main reason which inclines Dr. Punch to this opinion 

 is that one of the first symptoms by which the malady declares 

 itself consists in the eruption of a measly rash of ribbons 

 about the head and neck of the person who has caught it. The 

 eruption, which is of a mauve colour, soon spreads, until in 

 many cases the sufferer becomes completely covered with it. . . . 

 Married ladies have been cured by amputation of their pin 

 money, but this is a strong course, and except in extreme 

 cases Dr. Punch would not advise it. 



" Dr. Punch therefore prescribes a milder form of treatment 

 and recommends that when the symptoms of the mauve measles 

 first show themselves a gentle dose of reasoning should be at 

 once exhibited, with a view of ascertaining if the mind be much 

 affected. ..." 



So successful, indeed, did mauve become that numerous 

 attempts were made to prepare the dye by other methods, none 

 of which, however, were as successful as the original process, 



