LICHENS AS DYESTUFFS 



quantities on rocks by the seaside. In warm coun- 

 tries it grows in great abundance. It looks like a 

 very small shrub without any leaves. The color is 

 a whitish or blue gray, and the entire plant is cov- 

 ered with a mealy powder, or with scattered warty 

 spots. The men who get it ready for the dyer grind 

 it between stones, so as to bruise it but not make it 

 into a powder. 



When beaten to a pulp and dried in little cubes about 



the size of dice, the orchil is . , 



called litmus. Paper wet with 

 this is the litmus paper used in 

 chemistry. When put into an 

 acid, like vinegar, this paper be- 

 comes red. Place it in an alkali 



(ammonia, or water with soda The Cudbear Lichen. 

 in it) and it turns blue again. 



Another useful dye lichen is the rock moss, or cud- 

 bear. It is found in Sweden and Sicily. It is of a dirty 

 gray with large, irregular shields of pale flesh color. 

 When the plant is moistened it has a disagreeable odor. 

 The dye made from it gives any tinge of purple or 

 crimson. 



The common yellow wall lichen contains yellow and 

 red coloring matter. In some places the children col- 

 lect it for coloring Easter eggs. 



The Scotch tartans of the Highland clans used to be 

 dyed with a common gray lichen found on trees and 



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