386 account of Rufsian dyes. Funea7. 
ly unknown to us. Here, then, opens up an im- 
mense field for improvement that cannot be exhausted. 
The natives in Scotland, and other northern parts 
of Europe, know how to extract beautiful dyes from 
many plants of no promising appearances. Among 
lichens and mofses, in particular, the variety of co- 
lours that may be obtained, is almost infinite ; some 
of them inimitably beautiful. The procefs for dying 
scarlet, above described, is very curious. The cir- 
cumstance in particular of employing a fermentative 
procefs, is a partieular altogether new to me in the 
art of dying. Whether that fermentation be absolutely 
necefsary, or whether the vegetable acid, obtained o- 
therwise, might not answer the same purpose, deserves 
to be carefully investigated. This is an experimen- 
tal inquiry, which I would recommend to the atten- 
tion of such of my chemical readers as have time 
and opportunity to engage in such discufsions. It 
is impofsible to be more usefully employed than in - 
applying chemistry to the improvement of useful 
arts ; and among these arts none stands in more need 
of the afsistance of the chemist, thanthat of the dyer. 
» In many parts of the Highlands of Scotland the 
natives employ the galium verum, common yellow 
ladies bed-straw, in dying woollen stuffs ; and from 
this root they extract a red dye, much more brilliant 
than that which can be obtained from madder. A 
still finer dye is extracted from the root of the galium 
boreale, crofs wort. But as this plant is more rare, 
it is lefs known than the other. As these plants, 
however, have never been cultivated by art, the roots 
are so small as to be obtained with difficulty ; and as 
they grow every where on the loose sands, especially 
where they are of a fhelly nature, and serve to fix 
