24 



to be made on this colour, that the Cochineal which is so ex- 

 pensive, may be generally dispensed with.* 



The Quercitron, a species of Oak, and native of this coun- 

 try only, has long been esteemed for producing a yellow 

 dye. Dr. Bancroft, who first carried it to Europe, received 

 a patent from the English government for its introduction 

 there, and acquired a large fortune by the enterprise. The 

 pulverised bark was the state in which the Quercitron was 

 imported and used But works are now erected at Fitch- 

 burgh, in Massachusetts, for obtaining the extract of the 

 Quercitron, by a new process ; which contains the virtues 

 of the bark in substance in a very condensed state. One 

 pound of this extract affords as much colouring matter as fif- 

 teen or twenty pounds of the pulverised bark.f 



As we abound in Cryptogamic plants, I must not pass 

 them wholly unnoticed when speaking of dyes. Both moss- 

 es and mushrooms have been made to produce, in union 

 with other substances, beautiful colours of red and of violet 

 hues. In Sweden they stain woollen cloth with their moss- 

 es.| In France the mountains of Auvergne supply a moss 

 containing a colour little inferior to the splendid purple ex- 

 tracted from the Archil or Roella of the Canary Islands ; 

 and in the Highlands! of Scotland there are mosses found 

 which yield the same beautiful tinctures. These examples 

 ought to stimulate us to inquiries and investigations on these 

 subjects, which probably would be rewarded with complete 

 success. 



The art of dyeing is in its second infancy ; but we may 

 hope that, like the fabled eagle of the ancients, this renewed 

 youth will be only the precursor of a more vigorous maturi- 

 ty. The attention of a few scientific men to the subject 

 would bid fair to realize the prospect. The ancients held 



* See Aurora, October 5th, 1813. 



f See Literary and Philos. Repos.for Nov. and Decem. 1812, p. 148. 



* Kalm. 



$ Encyclop. Britannica Archil and Colour making, No. 49. 

 H Ibid, with Archil, 



