410 LEGUMINOSZ:. 
dried. ( Watts’ Dict. of Chem.) Before it is perfectly dry it is _ 
cut into cubes three inches square ; it is then packed up for sale. 
Indigo is one of the most precarious of Indian crops, being — 
liable to be destroyed by insects as well as inundation of the — 
rivers. Itis generally divided into two classes, viz., Bengal 
and Oude indigo. Madras indigo is not much inferior to that 
grown in Bengal. 
Description.—A shrub 2 to 8 feet, erect, pubescent; — 
branches terete, firm; leaves pinnated; leaflets 5 to 6 pairs, 
oblong ovate, cuneate at the base, slightly decreasing in size 
towards the apex; racemes shorter than the leaves; sessile, 
many flowered; flowers small, approximated at the base of the 
raceme, more distant and deciduous towards the apex, greenish 
rose-coloured ; calyx 5 cleft; segments broad, acute; legumes 
approximated towards the base of the rachis, nearly cylindrical, 
lightly torulose, deflexed and curved upwards; seeds about — 
10, cylindrical,.truncated at both ends. 
Chemical composition.—The formation of leucindigo from the 
glucoside indican, which is present in the plant, is stated by 
E. Alvarey (Compt. Rendus. 105, 286) to be effected by a special 
bacillus, which is strongly pathogenic, and closely resembles 
the bacilli of pueumonia and rhinoscleroma ( Watts’ Dict. of — 
Chem.) Regarding the preparation of indigo synthetically by — 
Baeyer, and for an account of the chemistry of the article, we — 
would refer our readers to Muir and Morley’s edition of Watts’ — 
Dictionary of Chemistry. Pure indigo should yield about 4°5 — 
per cent. of ash. 
Commerce.—T here are many kinds of indigo in the Indias a 
market ; the principal are :— 
Calcutta ........ Value Rs. 60 to 110 per maund of 41 lbs. 
Madras: i507 >» 2» 40 Poe 105 9 ” 
Hawudi tarreatoe ” » 55 »” 66 39 ”? 
Kheirpuri ine hee » ” 38 ” 50 9 ” 
Multanilél seetes gy ” 35 »” 50 99 ” 
Kanptir .-0----. 55 gy 30, 50 
‘Derdni Jamptr... 152 3s 20 ioe 
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