Flowers of (be Carthamus TinBofius, 6^ 



cloth thus prepared was much better dyed than that foakeJ 

 in water alone. 



3. But common oil of ohves is much fuperior to ei'.her 

 hoji;'s lard or i'oap. I boiled cloth in this oil for three liours; 

 I Iqueezed out the oil, and waflied the cloth in cold water 

 till not a drop of oil feemcd to be left in it, though the fmell 

 ot it remained, I then dried the cloth either above a liove 

 or in the oi)en air; dipped it feveral times, alternatciv, in the 

 alkaline liquor and lemon juice; and obierved that there was 

 a very efTential difierence between the cloth which had, and 

 that which had not, imbibed the oil. The one had aHluned 

 a Itronger and much better faturated colour; and the other 

 one much weaker, and was, at the ianie time, covered in manv 

 places with various pale ipots. The cloth, alio, which had 

 not yet imbibed oil, iolt much of its colour in drying; but 

 the colour of the other in drying feemed to acquire Ilrcno-th. ■ 

 I learned alio, by experience, that the whole procefs luccecds 

 better, the oftencr the cotton is thus dipped in oil and 

 dried. It is certain, alfo, that the cloth extrafts fome colour 

 from the oil, and therefore it is neceOkry tluU the latter 

 lliould be pure and limpid. The alkaline lalt, by which the 

 colouring matter of the carthamus is cxtraftcd, is of great 

 fervice in this procefs ; for the oil is fo far from rejecting the 

 watery colouring matter, which fome might apprehend, that 

 it rather ftron^ly attracts it, on account of the alkaliue fall, 

 which facilitates its entrance into the pores of the cotton. 



4. As thcfe experiments had fucceeded, I endeavoured to 

 imitate with the carthamus, as far as poflibic, the ]irocefs 

 employed by the Armenians. With this view, I boiled a 

 piece of cotton cloth feveral times in olive oil ; then waflud 

 it thoroughly in cold water, and afterwards dried it. After 

 this, I mixed water impregnated with the yellow colour- 

 ing matter of the carthamus, or a yellow infulion of the 

 carthamus, with pounded galls and alum. I then took 

 cloth which had been premaccratcd in oil, and dipped it in 

 this folution, after it had boiled a little, and found that the 

 cloth, when wrung, was of a yellow colour. Having dried 

 the cloth, I dipped it in the cold alkaline liquor of the car- 

 thamus, and then immerfed it in lemon juice; and this 

 being frequently repeated, the cloth appeared of a beautiful 

 and full red. Cloth which had not been ftceped in oil, but 

 which in other refpc6ls had been cxpoled to the like pro- 

 cefs, was of the iame colour, but a little paler; and, for that 

 reafon, I recommend this mode of dyeing to ihofe who do 

 not chool'e to employ oil. 



I ihall nosv add in what manner I tried the conftancy or 



durability 



