WOAD, CUTCH, MADDER, LOGWOOD 257 



thus produced being considered superior to that produced by 

 either alone. 



Woad (Reseda luteola). This is our own native plant which 

 grows on the waste places of chalky or limestone soils. It has 

 various names, such as Dyer's Rocket, Yellow Weed, Weld or 

 Wold. It is very much like wild mignonette, but grows taller, 

 sometimes attaining a height of three feet, and its spikes of 

 flowers are longer and more slender. It yields a beautiful yellow 

 dye which, when mixed with indigo, produces a fine green colour. 



Cutch, or catechu, is a dry, brown substance obtained from 

 the wood of the Acacia catechu, in India and Burmah. The 

 wood is boiled in water, after which the water is evaporated and 

 the cutch remains. The tannin it contains can be dissolved 

 out with cold water and the dye separated from it. 



It is still extensively used. It produces on cotton a cheap 

 and very good fast brown, but the cotton is made somewhat 

 harsh and the process is long ; it is, therefore, used for 

 dyeing awnings and for similar purposes where harshness of 

 texture does not matter. 



Madder (Rubia tinctorum). This is the plant whose roots 

 yield the brilliant red colour known as Turkey red. It used 

 to be extensively cultivated in the south of Europe, and after- 

 wards in France and Holland, being after indigo the most 

 important of the vegetable dyes. It is a bramble with rough 

 leaves, and stems, and sharp prickles ; it bears small yellow 

 flowers and forms a black fruit. As a dye it has been super- 

 seded by artificial alizarin. 



Logwood is the heart- wood of Haematoxylon campeachianum, 

 a tree growing abundantly throughout Central America and the 

 West Indies. It is a red, heavy wood, containing a yellow 

 substance from which the colouring principle is subsequently 

 obtained. 



The dye is cheap, and produces fast blues and blacks, 

 especially on silk and leather ; it is likely to continue to be 

 an important dye-stuff. The imported wood is called logwood 

 because it is brought over in logs. 



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