ARNATTO. 389 



bodies. The colouring 1 matter is obtained by boiling 

 the leaves for a considerable time, and then to pro- 

 duce a separation of the fecula, adding pieces of the 

 bark of a tree common to that part of the world, and 

 called aryana. By this mean the fecnla is precipi- 

 tated ; it is then washed, and formed into round 

 cakes about two inches thick and five or six inches in 

 diameter; these cakes are afterwards dried, and are 

 then considered fit for use. In this state the chica 

 dye is now occasionally to be met with in commerce, 

 and it is coming into use for the purposes of dyeing. 

 It communicates to cotton a fine orange colour. 



ARNATTO. 



The Arnatto tree, or Eioca orellana, is a native of 

 South America. The Europeans who first visited 

 America found that the berries which it yields were 

 used by some of the Indian tribes to paint their 

 bodies. The brilliant and showy colour soon at- 

 tracted the attention of the settlers, who not only 

 applied it to their own uses, but likewise converted 

 it very speedily into an article of commerce. The 

 arnatto tree is also extremely common in Jamaica 

 and other parts of the West Indies. It abounds in 

 Java and Sumatra, and is much valued by the na- 

 tives of those islands on account of its colouring 

 matter, which they skilfully extract. It seldom 

 attains to more than twelve feet in height. The 

 leaves are of a deeper green on one side than on 

 the other, and are divided by fibres of a reddish 

 brown colour ; they are four inches long, broad at 

 the base, and tend to a sharp point. The stem 

 has likewise fibres, which in Jamaica are converted 

 into serviceable ropes. The tree produces oblong 

 bristled pods, somewhat resembling those of a 

 chesnut. These are at first of a beautiful rose- 



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