486 DYES AND COLORING STUFFS. 



LICHENS, 



THE chief lichens employed in the manufacture of orchil and cud- 

 bear are the following : 



Angola weed {Ramalina furfuracea) . 



Mauritius weed (JRocella fusiformis), which conies also from 

 Madagascar, Lima, and Valparaiso, and then bears the distinctive 

 commercial name of the port of shipment. 



Cape weed (Rocella tinctoria), from the Cape de Verd Islands, 



Canary Moss (farmelia perlata) . 



Tartareous Moss (Parmelia tartar ea). 



Pustulatus Moss (Umbilicaria pustulata) . 



Velvet Moss ( QyropJiora murina) . 



The last three are imported from Sweden, 



Of these lichens, the first, which is the richest in coloring matter, 

 grows as a parasite upon trees ;. all the remainder upon rocks. 



Rocella corallina, Variolaris lactea and dealbata, have been also* 

 resorted to. 



About 130 tons of cudbear are imported annually from Sweden. 



These lichens are found on rocks, on the sea coast. The modes 

 of treating them for the manufacture of the different dyes is the 

 same in principle, though varying slightly in detail. They are 

 carefully cleaned and ground into a pulp with water, an ammoniacal 

 liquor is from time to time added, and the mass constantly stirred 

 in order to expose it as much as possible to the air. Peculiar 

 substances existing in these plants are, during this process, so- 

 changed by the combined action of the atmosphere, water, and 

 ammonia, as to generate the coloring matter, which, when per- 

 fect, is pressed out, and gypsum, chalk, or other substances, are 

 then added, so as to give it the desired consistency ; these are then 

 prepared for the market under the forms of cudbear or litmus. 



HENNA (Lawsonia inermis), is an important dye-stuff, and the 

 distilled water of the flowers is used as a perfume. The Ma- 

 homedan women in India use the shoots for dyeing their nails red, 

 and the same practice prevails in Arabia. In these countries the 

 manes and tails of the horses are stained red in the same manner. 

 The Genista tomentosa yields red petals used in dyeing, and con- 

 taining much tannic acid. 



ORCHILLA WEED. The fine purple color which the orchilla weed 

 yields, is in use as an agent for coloring, staining, and dyeing. 

 About 30,000 Ibs. is obtained annually in the island of Teneriffe. 

 460 arrobas (or 115 cwt.) of orchilla were exported from the Canary 

 Isles in 1833. In 1839, 6,494 cwts. paid duty, and 4,175 cwts. in 

 1840. The average imports of the three years ending with 1842, 

 was 6,050 cwt. A little comes in from Barbary and the islands 

 of the Archipelago. 



Dr. W. L. Lindley, in a very interesting paper, read before the 

 Botanical Society of London, in December, 1852, on the dyeing 

 properties of the lichens, stated 



