YELLOW DYES. 393 



added, which facilitates its solution and produces a 

 better colour. The liquid sold in the shops under 

 the name of* Scott's Nankin dye " is nothing but a 

 solution of arnatto in potash and water. Arnatto 

 is perfectly soluble in alcohol ; it is much used in this 

 state for lacquering 1 , and for communicating an orange 

 tint to the yellow varnishes. 



It is likewise employed in large quantities as a 

 colouring ingredient for cheese, to which it gives the 

 required tinge, without imparting any unpleasant 

 flavour or unwholesome quality. 



Arnatto is imported into this country in cakes of 

 two or three pounds weight, wrapped up in large flag 

 leaves, and packed in casks. In this form it is a 

 kind of paste, the evaporation not having been car- 

 ried on to absolute dryness. Another kind, the roll 

 arnatto of commerce, is of a much superior quality, 

 being a hard extract, and containing a much greater 

 proportion of colouring matter. 



The average annual importation for the five pre- 

 ceding years was 1,074 casks, each weighing from 

 three to four and a half cwt. 



Turmeric, or Indian saffron, is a yellow dye ob- 

 tained from the roots of Curcuma longa. 



This plant is indigenous to the East Indies and 

 other parts of Asia, and to Madagascar. It has like- 

 wise been cultivated with some success in Tobago ; 

 samples of turmeric sent to England from that island 

 having been found superior to that usually imported. 

 It does not, however, yet form an article of importa- 

 tion from the West Indies. Our supplies are brought 

 from the East Indies, China, and Java; of these the 

 Chinese turmeric is the best. The island of Sumatra 

 might also furnish supplies, for it is much cultivated 

 there, and principally used by the natives to give that 

 yellow tinge to their rice and other food of which all 



