94 New Dyeing Bark, Paraguafait. 



lac is obtained, which Is neither fo bright nor fo beautiful as is obtained from cochcnllie 

 ■by the fame procefs. 



The fame deco£lion mixed with nut galls afforded me a precipitate of a faint rpfe co- 

 lour. The infufions of brazil wood and logwood mixed with the Infufion of galls affunie 

 a deeper and browner colour. Ours, on the contrary, becomes brighter, and aflumes a 

 pale tinge of the rofe, or fome other finiilar and delicate colour. 



It mud be confefled that the colour obtained from paraguatan has not the force of that 

 of cochenille. But it is fupcrior to thofe of madder, brazil wood, and logwood. For it 

 refills vinegar, lemon juice, and tartar. Soap itfelf does not deftroy it fo quickly as it does 

 thofe of brazil and logwood. 



Our bark likewife affords the advantage, that, by employing it in certain dofes, and 

 giving a due preparation to filk, we may obtain various fhades of rofc and poppy colour, 

 which cannot be had by means of carthamus but by difficult proceffes, long wafhings, al- 

 kaline mixtures, and other embarraffing manipulations. 



By examination of the external appearance of a piece of the wood of paraguatan, 

 it appears to me to be the fame tree which Francis Correal * fays he obferved in 

 the province of Popayan, not far from Guiana. The fame author relates, that this tree 

 is different from that of brazil •, that the trunk is of the thickness of a man's thigh ; 

 that its bark is filled with longitudinal indentations ; that the wood and bark are of 

 a fins red ; and that the Indians ufe this wood inlxed with a red earth to dye their 

 cotton garments. 



The colour obtained from paraguatan does not refill the a£lIon of light. No colour can 

 withftand this tefl. It is enough that our colour withftands it longer than thofe of brazil 

 and logwood. I muff not conceal, that thefe two trees afford the colouring matter in greater 

 abundance than the paraguatan. 



From thefe fa6ls I confider the paraguatan as one of the mofl valuable produdllons 

 which America furniflies to Spain. It may be advantageoufly employed in the art 

 of dyeing throughout Europe. It is to be wilhed that enquiry might be made at Po- 

 payan, in order that the earth i&id the wood mentioned by Correal might be procured. 

 It is alfo defirable that the governor of Guiana fhould colleft all the information which 

 ■can be procured refpeding the paraguatan, and tranfmit the fame to us with other famples 

 of the wood, the leaves and the flowers of this tree, to enable us to determine its fpecies. 



The knowledge of this wood begins to be extended. For I have lately received a portion 

 of its bark, and a red matter which an Englifhman, named Milnes, has obtained from 

 Guiana. It is to be prefumed that this matter is the fame as is mentioned by Francis 

 Correal in his travels. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



J. HE admlniflratlon of finances and contributions of the French Republic In Italy, hav- 

 ing at its difpofal a great number of the moft valuable pieces of fculpture, painting, and 

 marblesf, arifing from confifcations made of (the property of) the enemies of the French 



* Voyage aux Indes Occidcntales, p. 4zo, of the French tranflation printed in 1722. 

 fMarires, which I underftand-Ui denote tablets, ftatues, bas-reliifs, and every other woik formed of inarble. N. 



Republic, 



