1 RED-DYE WOODS 241 



the addition of acids it produces a permanent orange or yellow 

 colour, while the crimson tints which it imparts are very 

 fleeting. 



The red-dye woods known in commerce under the names of 

 Saint Martha, Nicaragua, and Lima, proceed from different 

 varieties of the Ccvsalpinki ecltinata and brasilieiisis. Saint 

 Martha wood is chiefly exported from Rio Hacha, a port of the 

 republicrof New Grenada on the Caribbean Sea, being the ex- 

 clusive product of that country; Lima wood grows along the 

 coast of the Pacific from Panama to Chili, and is exported to 

 Europe from the ports of Mazatlan, Arica, Iquique, and Val- 

 paraiso. The eastern hemisphere also furnishes several red-dye 

 woods to commerce. Ccesalpinia Sappan and bimas grow in the 

 eastern archipelago, and are frequently mixed with the more 

 valuable Brazil wood. 



Red Saunders, a solid compact wood, is furnished by the 

 Pterocarpua santalinua, a large tree growing chiefly on the coast 

 of Coromandel ; and a variety of the same plant produces the 

 Caliatour wood, which is not only used for dyeing, but is highly 

 prized by cabinet makers for its hardness, fine polish, and 

 variously-striped beautiful red colour. 



The first Europeans that settled on the banks of the Amazon 

 found that several of the Indian tribes that roamed about in 

 their vicinity painted their bodies with a showy orange-red 

 colour. Their attention was by this means attracted to the 

 Arnatto (Bixa orellana), which attains about the size of our 

 hazel tree. The heart-shaped leaves are about four inches long, 

 of a lighter green on the upper surface, and divided by fibres of 

 a reddish-brown colour ; the rosy flowers are succeeded by 

 bristled pods somewhat resembling those of a chesnut, which, 

 bursting open when ripe, display a splendid crimson farina or 

 pulp, in which are contained thirty or forty seeds, in shape 

 similar to raisin stones. As soon tts they have arrived at 

 maturity the pods are gathered, divested of their husks, bruised, 

 immersed in water, and after a few weeks beaten with wooden 

 paddles to promote the separation of the pulp from the seeds. 

 The turbid liquor is then strained, boiled to a consistent paste, 

 and finally formed into cakes, which are left to dry in the sun. 

 In England arnatto is generally used by the dyer to give a 



