Some Ancient Dyes. 161 



of madder, either wild or cultivated, the fabric having been 

 previously treated with a mixed aluminous and ferric 

 mordant, and then probably oiled— that it was, in fact, really 

 a kind of Turkey red. 



Maroon. — The dull chestnut colour of this fabric pre- 

 sented a striking contrast to the bright red of the preceding. 

 Its constitution was, however, similar. Having treated it in 

 the same way as the other, I found that the colouring 

 matter must have been derived from madder ; fatty matter 

 was also present, but the mordant contained a larger pro- 

 portion of ferric oxide, a fact which sufficiently explains the 

 brown tint of the dyed fabric. 



Purple. — The fabric in which this colour was seen was 

 made up of a pale yellow warp, and a weft of a dull purple or 

 claret colour. The latter colour was found to be due to an 

 intimate mixture of red and blue, for the threads, on exami- 

 nation under the microscope, were seen to consist partly of 

 red, partly of blue fibres, the former predominating. The 

 two sets of fibres had, of course, been mixed before spinning. 

 The blue fibres were certainly dyed with indigo, the red 

 probably with madder. 



Black. — The colour of the black fabric, like that of the 

 green, was a compound of two colours, one overlying the 

 other. Under the microscope the individual threads 

 appeared grey. On treatment with a mixture of alcohol 

 and hydrochloric acid they changed colour, a yellow liquid 

 being obtained, while the fabric itself now appeared blue, 

 and after washing and drying yielded indigo by appropriate 

 treatment. The yellow alcoholic liquid was found to con- 

 tain purpurin. The colour may be supposed to have been 

 produced in the following manner : — The woollen fabric 

 having first been dyed blue was mordanted, to use a modern 

 phrase, and then dyed with madder, the two colours 

 together producing the effect of black. 



