228 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



(the particular place is Kara). It is prepared for use by rubbing it with 

 water upon the surface of a stone vessel called " suzuri," familiar to 

 eveiy Japanese. 



b. White, " gof un, " calcium carbonate [white chalk]. For use it is 

 put in a color dish, and a few drops of glue solution are added. It is 

 then rubbed with the finger in contact with the dish, uutil it becomes 

 a wet mass and somewhat pasty. A little glue solution is again added, 

 and the rubbing repeated, and so on several times. When the mass 

 has become sufficiently pasty to be made into a pudding, it is beaten 

 several times against a plank, and then reduced to a thin paste by di- 

 luting with water. 



c. Pink, " sho-yen-ji." This is apparently cochineal, but its chemicai 

 nature has not yet been ascertained. It is imported from China, in the 

 form of cotton felt dyed red. To prepare it for use this felt is put into 

 water and gently pressed. The resulting pink water is poured into a 

 color dish, and evaporated nearly to dryness in a water bath, or over a 

 very slow fire, care being taken not to let it dry completely, as other- 

 wise its brilliancy would be destroyed. It is then kept in a cool place, 

 and protected from dust by putting a cover on the dish or by placing it 

 upside down in a box. 



d. Blue, " ai-bo," a dark blue, hard stick made of indigo. For use it 

 is ground, like " suini," in a color dish, with a few drops of glue solu- 

 tion. When a sufficiently deep blue color has been obtained, it is well 

 rubbed with the finger in contact with the dish, and then evaporated 

 to dryness over a slow fire. A few drops of water are now added, the 

 dish is again placed over a slow fire, the rubbing with the finger gone 

 through with as before, and water is added gradually, until the proper 

 shade of color has been obtained. If these directions are not strictly 

 followed, the pigment is not well diffused in the water, and the result- 

 ing color, as a matter of course, is not satisfactory. The treatment of 

 the pigments gofun, shoyen-ji, <u-bo, etc., requires great caution, and 

 the Japanese printers and painters consider it one of the difficulties of 

 their art. 



e. Yellow, " shi-o." This is gamboge, and is imported. For use it is, 

 diffused in water, and no glue whatever is added. 



f. Brown, " tai-sha-bo," a hard, brown stick made of a red ocher. For 

 use it is treated exactly like " ai-bo." 



g. Red, "shu," vermilion. For use it is well mixed with a few drops 

 of glue solution, ground thoroughly with the finger, and then diluted 

 with water to the proper consistency. 



The following pigments are also used in printing, and samples of them 

 have been sent to the U. S-. National Museum : 



Bed, " ki-jo-mi," safflower. This color, in solution, is very apt to suf 

 fer on exposure to sunlight, and the bottle in which it is sent is, there- 

 fore, wrapped up in black paper. Alter it has dried on the paper, it is 

 not so fugitive as to make it undesirable for printing. 



