252 FUSTIC, ARNATTO, SAFFRON. 



Oak common in America, the timber of which is employed 

 largely in building. This bark is employed in the United 

 States for tanning ; and its colour being considered a defect, this 

 is removed by a chemical process. More than a thousand tons of 

 it, however, are annually imported into Britain : and it is here 

 much valued, on account of the number of different shades of 

 colour, which it may be made to produce, as well as on account 

 of its superior durability. A much greater demand exists, how- 

 ever, for the dye termed Fustic ; which is extracted from the 

 wood of a species of Mulberry tree, that grows spontaneously 

 in Brazil and the West Indies. It does not yield above one- 

 fourth the amount of colouring matter obtained from Quercitron, 

 and its colour is not so lively ; but it is more efficient in combi- 

 nation with some other dyes, and is used with indigo to dye 

 Saxon green, and with salts of iron for drab. 



397. Arnatto is another dye of a reddish yellow, employed 

 for particular purposes ; it is obtained from the crimson pulp 

 lying between the husk and the seeds of the Arnatto tree, which 

 is a native of both the East and West Indies. It is brought to 

 this country in cakes, which are made by boiling down the pulp ; 

 and these are of a brownish red, giving a bright orange, when 

 dissolved in water with the addition of an alkali. Its hue 

 is not permanent, however ; and it is seldom employed by itself, 

 except for giving colour to cheese ; for which it is valued, on 

 account of the ready communication of its colour, without im- 

 parting any unpleasant flavour or unwholesome quality. One of 

 the most beautiful yellow colouring substances, is that known as 

 Saffron ; but it is too expensive to be much employed by dyers. 

 Its chief use is in medicinal and culinary preparations, to which 

 it imparts its brilliant hue and agreeable flavour. Saffron is the 

 produce of a kind of Crocus, which is cultivated in England, as 

 well as in France and Spain. This plant flowers in October ; and 

 the flowers are gathered, even before they are full-blown. The 

 stigmata^ or points of the pistils (. 434), of these flowers, are 

 then picked off; and the rest of the flower is thrown by as use- 

 less. These little bodies, constituting the Saffron, are next very 

 carefully dried, and pressed between paper. Its high price re- 



