372 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



India or China lake. It does not communicate any 

 colour to water, but produces a beautiful red tincture 

 when alcohol is poured upon it. This colouring 

 matter, mixed with French chalk, or talc, finely pul- 

 verized, is the substance known under the name of 

 vegetable rouge. 



To render this substance efficient for dyeing it 

 must be again held in solution by an alkaline men- 

 struum, in which the stuff to be dyed is immersed, 

 and by the application of the acid the colouring 

 matter is precipitated on the fabric under process, in a 

 similar manner to that by which it was retained on 

 the carded cotton. 



Safflower is imported into England from India 

 and Turkey : the Indian is very much superior, 

 bearing nearly double the price of the Turkish. It 

 is admitted at the trifling duty of 1.?. per cwt. The 

 average annual importation for the last five years 

 has been 2,942 bales, each weighing one cwt. The 

 average price of the best during that time was 8. 17s. 

 per cwt. 



The tops and flowers of a plant called St. John's 

 Wort contain a resinous juice, which may be usefully 

 employed for the purposes of dyeing. 



This plant grows naturally in many parts of Great 

 Britain, and can be easily propagated by layers or 

 seeds. It has a shrubby stalk about two feet high. 

 The branches grow in pairs, shooting forth in oppo- 

 site directions. The flowers grow at the ends of 

 the stalks, and bloom in July and August. These 

 are succeeded by globular berry-like capsules of a 

 black colour. 



The juice expressed from the tops and flowers is 

 perfectly soluble in water, alcohol, and vinegar; a 

 solution in the two former affords a blood-red colour, 

 in the latter, a fine bright crimson ; when combined 



