164 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



6, lanceolate, margins and midribs aculeate; flower-stalk axillary or ter- 

 minal, trifid. Flowers, brownish-yellow. Root consists of many long prickly 

 shoots half an inch in diameter, and 3 to 4 feet long, descending deep into the 

 ground, all united near the surface in a sort of head. 



2. R. Chiliensis is used as a dye in South America. 



3. R. cordifolia, a native of Persia, is largely used in Hindustan, both as a 

 dye and as an article of medicine. Other species are used for dyes in the 

 countries where they grow. 



Geography. — Its geographical range is the middle and southern parts of 

 the north temperate zone. It is indigenous to western Asia and the Mediter- 

 ranean countries of eastern Europe. It is cultivated successfully in Hindustan, 

 China, Japan, and Northern Africa, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Prance, Germany, 

 and Holland, and in the middle and central United Stgjtes of North America. 



It has been cultivated for market in Ohio 

 and Delaware. It is shipped to England 

 from the ports of India and from the eastern 

 Mediterranean, and thence to America. 



Etymology. — Riibia is derived from the 

 Latin word ruber, red, from the color of its 

 root. Tinctorum is from the Latin word 

 tinctor, a colorer. Chiliensis is derived 

 from Chile, the home of this species. Cordi- 

 folia, from the Latin, refers to the heart- 

 shaped leaves. Madder is derived from the 

 Sanscrit madhura, sweet, or tender, alluding 

 to the character of the root. 



History. — The madder was known to the 

 ancients, and it is believed that some of the 

 cloths in which the mummies were rolled 

 were colored with madder. It was one of 

 the most important dyes known to the Greeks 

 and Romans. 



Preparation. — The long, slender roots are 

 dug when the plant is three years old, and 

 when dry are about the thickness of a goose- 

 quill, and of a deep red color. The method of preparation is to grind the 

 root and wash it with water, which takes out the inert matter, among Avhich 

 is sugar. Straining through woollen cloth leaves the bruised root upon the 

 cloth ; the root is then dried and reground. The liquor is preserved in vats 

 and allowed to ferment, after which it is distilled, and yields a quart of 

 alcohol for every 100 pounds of root. 



Use. — Madder is used for a dye, especially in the printing of muslins. The 

 fine Turkey red is produced by madder. By the use of chemicals, every shade 

 of red, purple, lilac, and rose-color can be obtained from the madder-root. 

 The color is suspended both by alcohol and by water. As a medicine, it ex- 

 cites the secretory organs, and especially the kidneys. When fed to cattle, it 

 enters into the milk and other fluids of the body, and even colors the bones. 



The Alizarine of the shops is artificial, and is a derivative of anthracine, a 

 coal-oil product. Since its introduction, the cultivation of madder has almost 

 ceased; over a million acres of madder land have gone out of cultivation in 

 France alone. 



RuBiA TINCTORUM (Madder). 



