CH. XI] DYE STUFFS AND TANNING SUBSTANCES 115 



Annatto. This dye, variously known as annatto, anotto, 

 arnatto, roucou, etc., is to some small extent cultivated in 

 Guiana, Ceylon, etc. The plant producing it, Bixa Orellana, 

 grows into a small tree, and bears little pods containing seeds, 

 each surrounded by a fleshy reddish-yellow coat. The seeds are 

 collected and placed in hot water to macerate ; they are then 

 pounded up with a pestle, strained off from the dye stuff and 

 thrown away, and the dye stuff is dried. There is a small 

 industry in this dye, but it is only small. 



Other dyes. Other dye stuffs, of greater or less importance, 

 are obtained from the rhizomes or root-stocks of Curcuma 

 longa, the turmeric, from the wood of Caesalpinia Sapan, the 

 sapanwood, and from a fair number of other plants, more espe- 

 cially in India and Java, where the natives have known of and 

 cultivated them for a long time. 



Tanning Substances. Perhaps the most important of 

 these is the cutch of Bombay, with which the true "khaki" 

 cloth is dyed and shrunk. This is the wood of Acacia Catechu 

 and other species, cut up and boiled down to give a strong 

 extract. Myrobalans, the fruit of species of Terminalia, are 

 also largely employed. Gambier, in the Straits Settlements, is 

 also of importance ; the twigs and leaves of the shrub ( Uncaria 

 gambir) are boiled down to give an extract. Mangrove bark 

 gives a cutch of some value, and was formerly exploited in 

 Ceylon by a company which has since given up operations. 

 The bark of Acacia decurrens, cultivated in Ceylon, India, 

 Brazil, etc., yields large quantities of tan. The pods of the 

 divi-divi (Caesalpinia coriaria) are exported from the West 

 Indies and Colombia, and a good many other plants also yield 

 tannin in sufficient quantity to be worth collecting, at least 

 upon a small scale, for local use. There seems some prospect 

 of a great scarcity of tanning stuffs, and the industry shows 

 more probability of success. 



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