DYES. 151 



variety of tints is afforded, from a pale lemon to deep orange. 

 The oxide of iron gives a drab color. 



Weld, Reseda Luteola, is of the Resedacese or Mignonette 

 family. It is the most easy of cultivation of any of the dye- 

 plarits. It is generally biennial, and pulled up in the second 

 year of its growth, while in flower, before it goes to seed. 

 The roots are dried by being set upright four together. When 

 they are dry, which will be in about a week, they are put 

 into larger bundles for sale. When stacked in the dry state, 

 it will keep for years; but when extracted from the stalk, 

 it should be used, as it soon ferments and becomes worth- 

 less. 



Fustic is the wood of a tree native to the West Indies, the 

 Mbrus tinctoria. It affords, with alum, a less bright, but 

 more permanent, yellow than the preceding yellow dyes. It 

 assists also in producing green and drab colors. 



Saffron Crocus ( Crocus sativus) is a plant " cultivated 

 from bulbs. The dye produced is from the stigma and style 

 of the plant. The yellow dye is very fugitive ; by the addi- 

 tion of sulphuric acid, a blue is obtained, and then lilac, and 

 on the application of nitric acid it assumes a green tint. 



Turmeric is the root already mentioned in the article Cur- 

 ry. It is a native of the East Indies, the Curcuma lonya. 

 Curcuma paper is that which is stained with a decoction of 

 the dye, and is used by chemists to detect a free alkali, the 

 presence of which it betrays by a brown stain. 



A yellow dye is obtained from several species of Ameri- 

 can Walnut or Hickory, particularly from the Juglans or 

 Carya alba, the bark, leaves, and rinds all yielding a dye 

 similar to Quercitron, but less in quantity. 



Annotto, Bixa Orellana, a shrub of Tropical America, has 

 already been mentioned. 



French berries, Rhamnus tinctoria, yield a lively but fu- 

 gitive yellow. 



