DYE 



DYE 



called the duties of customs; also the 

 taxes of excise, stamp duties, &c. See 

 CUSTOMS, EXCISE, Sec. 



DWARF, in general, an appellation 

 given to things greatly inferior in size to 

 that which is usual in their several kinds; 

 thus there are dwarfs of the human spe- 

 cies, dwarf-dogs, dwarf-trees, &c. 



DWARF fruit-trees are propagated by 

 grafting them on a quince-stock, about 

 six inches above the ground ; and when 

 the bud is shot so far as to have four 

 eyes, it must be stopped, to give rise for 

 lateral branches, for which purpose the 

 uppermost eye should always be left out- 

 wards. Apple, pear, plum, and cherry- 

 trees are thus formed into dwarfs, but the 

 summer and autumn pears are found to 

 succeed best As to the planting of 

 dwarf-trees, they should be set at twenty- 

 five feet square distance, and the ground 

 between sown or planted for kitchen use 

 wliile the trees are young, only keeping 

 at some distance from their roots ; stakes 

 also should be fixed all around them, to 

 which the branches may be nailed with 

 list, and thereby trimmed in an horizontal 

 direction, and prevented from crossing 

 one another. 



DYE, any square body, as the trunk, 

 or notched part of a pedestal ; or it is the 

 middle of the pedestal, or that part in- 

 cluded between the base and the cornich e, 

 so called, because it is often made in the 

 form of a cube or dye. See ABCHITEC- 



TUBE. 



DYEING, as the word is commonly 

 used, is the art of communicating colour 

 of some considerable degree of perma- 

 nence to articles used in clothing; the pro- 

 cesses for col curing other substances will 

 be found under the articles of staining 

 wood, bone, leather, and marble. 



This art is probably of great antiquity, 

 as we find accounts of coloured garments 

 in the earliest records of history. The 

 ancient Egyptians must have carried it to 

 great perfection, as the method of pro- 

 ducing very brilliant colours of extreme 

 durability was well known to them, nu- 

 merous specimens of such colours on 

 various substances being still found on 

 the walls of their early built temples, on 

 the sides of their catacombs, and on the 

 coverings of their mummies; and it may 

 be fairly inferred, from their producing 

 such fine colours on these substances, 

 that they must have known how to do so 

 on other substances, and in other man- 

 ners ; besides which, Pliny expressly men- 

 tions, (Hist. Nat Lib. 35. chap. 2.) that 

 the Egyptians had a mode of dyeing, 



VOL. IV. 



which, from his description, was very like 

 that which we use for colouring printed 

 linens, as the stuffs were immersed in 

 vats, where they received various colours, 

 probably after having been impregnated 

 with different mordants. 



Among the Greeks, dyeing was but li t- 

 tle practised ; but the Tyrians, who may 

 be called their neighbours, were, at a 

 very early period, acquainted with the 

 method of producing the beautiful tint 

 of purple, for which they were so long 

 famous ; from the Tyrians the art pro- 

 ceeded to the Greeks, and from them to 

 the Romans. 



The ancients also obtained from the 

 coccus, now known by the name of 

 kermes, a colour, which was almost as 

 highly esteemed as the purple, and which 

 was sometimes mixed with it. See Or- 

 ris 



There is reason to "think it was not till 

 the time of Alexander, that the Greeks 

 attempted materially to improve the 

 black, blue, yellow, and green dyes ; 

 which it is probable they learned the 

 means of effecting from the natives of 

 Asia, with which the conquest of Alex- 

 ander rendered them familiar, and among 

 some of whom, particularly the Indians, 

 the art of dyeing fine colours was known 

 from the earliest antiquity. But as the 

 art of dyeing has not proceeded to us 

 directly from the Indians, it is sufficient 

 to note this circumstance, in tracing its 

 progress in countries more adjacent to 

 our own. 



The qualities of the colours used by 

 the ancients may be judged of by the 

 substances employed in making them ; of 

 which M. BiscofFJ who has minutely ex- 

 amined the subject, enumerates the fol- 

 lowing ingredients, in addition to the 

 coccus and purple shell fish : 



1. Alum ; but this it is probable the an- 

 cients were unacquainted with in its pre- 

 sent state of purity. 



2. Alkanet, which Suidas says was used 

 by women as a paint. 



3. The blood of birds, which was used 

 among the Jews. 



4. The fucus ; that of Crete was pre- 

 ferred, and was generally employed as a 

 ground for valuable colours. 



5. Broom. 



6. The violet ; from which the Gaul* 

 prepared a colour that resembled one 

 kind of purple. 



7. Ixrtos medicago arborea, snail tre- 

 foil ; the bark was used in dyeing skins, 

 and the root in dyeing wool 



II h 



