NATURAL HISTORY. 



571 



earth (fossil alkali) ; boil an hour 

 more, and add threeounces of pow- 

 deredload (a straw coloured bark) ; 

 boil a short time, let it stand one 

 night, and strain next day ; eva- 

 porate three quarts of milk with- 

 out cream to two quarts, upon a 

 slow fire, curdle it with sour milk, 

 and let it stand for a day or two ; 

 then mix it with the red liquid 

 above mentioned; strain tliem 

 through a cloth, add to the mix- 

 ture an ounce and a half of alum, 

 and the juice of eight or ten 

 lemons; mix tl\e whole, and throw 

 it into a cloth bag strainer. The 

 blood of the insect forms a coagu- 

 lum with the caseous part of the 

 milk, and remains in the bag, 

 while the limpid acid water drains 

 from it ; the coagulum is dried in 

 the shade, and is used as a red 

 colour in painting and colouring. 



Dyeing. — Take one gallon of 

 the red liquid prepared as in the 

 preceding page, without milk ; to 

 which add three ounces of alum ; 

 boil three or four pounds of tama- 

 rinds in a gallon of water, and 

 strain the liquor. 



Light Red. — Mix equal parts of 

 the red liquid water and tamarind 

 water over a brisk fire ; in this 

 mixture dip and wring the silk 

 alternately, until it has received a 

 proper quantity of the dye. To 

 increase the colour increase the 

 proportion of the red liquid, and 

 let the silk boil a few minutes in 

 the mixture. To make the silk 

 hold the colour, they boil a handful 

 of the bark called Load in water; 

 strain the decoction, and add cold 

 water to it; dip the dyed silk into 

 this liquor several times, and then 

 dry tlie silk. Cotton clotlis are 

 dyed in this manner, but the dye 

 is not so lasting as in silk. 



Spanish Wool. — The lac colour 

 is preserved by the natives upon 

 flakes of cotton dipped repeatedly 

 into a strong solution of the lac 

 insect in water, and dried. 



Here I ought to have described 

 the utilities of this body, as prac- 

 tised by Europeans, but I axri not 

 master of the subject, and shall be 

 very glad to see it done by an 

 abler hand. The properties of 

 bodies should be as fully described 

 as possible, for therein consists 

 the principal utility of natural his- 

 tory. The present mode of de- 

 scribing natural productions merely 

 as materiae medica;, pictorise, &c. 

 is in my opinion highly injurious 

 to the subject, trifling, unbecom- 

 ing a natural historian, and is the 

 cause of a great evil. 



To be added. — After the grind- 

 stones, the gross remains after 

 making sliell lac is formed into 

 balls, polished and painted for 

 boys and men to play with, as our 

 boys do with marbles. Perhaps 

 in this consists the secret art of 

 making the European marbles. 



Added after Dying. — The dye is 

 used in colouring that red powder 

 with which the Hintlus bespatter 

 one another in their holy festival 

 time. 



AN^ ACCOUNT OF THE BTDDERY 

 WARE. 



By Benj. Hcyne, M.D. Naturalist to 

 tlie Hon. East India Company at 

 Madras. 



(From the same.) 



The Hindoos have since time 

 immemorial not only excelled their 

 neighbours in the management of 

 metals for useful and curious pur- 

 poses, but they are even familiarly 



acquainted 



