addition of urine or lime, the "urinous volatile spirit" of the dye was 

 replaced by a violet scent and the liquid had turned crimson. Then blue 

 or red orchil could be made by simply adjusting the solution's alkalinity. 

 This material was dried and sold in paste or cake form. After the mid- 19th 

 century it could be purchased in America as a liquid as well as a paste 

 (O'Neill, 1869, p. 68). 



The basic technique of dyeing with orchil was very simple. Requiring 

 no mordant, the dye was added to lukewarm water, slowly heated to the 

 boiling point, and the textile material added. The dyebath was then 

 reheated slowly to just below the boiling point to obtain the brightest 

 colors. The whole dyeing process was repeated as many times as was 

 necessary to obtain the depth of color desired. Alum or iron salts added 

 to the dye would not improve its fastness, however, they modified its hues; 

 iron salts turned orchil-dyed cloth rich reddish purple, while acids and 

 alum had a reddening effect (Kok, 1966, pp. 264-265). 



After the advent of coal-tar dyes, orchil's use gradually declined, but in 

 spite of this dye's sensitivity to light and milling it did not become obsolete 

 as a textile dye until the first half of the 20th century. The soft, rich tones 

 it imparted to wools kept it commercially useful until manufacturers could 

 produce dyes that gave the same effects. 



A number of 19th century dye manuals mentioned another type of 

 orchil made from the "lichen parellus" {Ochrolechia parella) that grew in 

 the Auvergne region of France. Its processing and dyeing methods were 

 essentially the same as orchil's and apparently it was used along with the 

 aforementioned and more durable orchil; however, its use was probably 

 less general. 



CUDBEAR (a compound consisting of Ochrolechia tartarea [later Umbilicaria pustidata], 



Urceolaria calcarea and Cladonia pyxidata) 

 Also spelled "cut bear" and "cudbierd"; teinture d'orseille (Fr.) 



Cudbear is a dye closely related to orchil, since both are derived from 

 lichens and contain the same coloring principle. Cudbear consists of a 

 combination of lichens; it was patented in 1758 by a Scottish merchant 

 named Cuthbert Gordon, who named it for his mother whose maiden 

 name was Cuthbert (Kok, 1966, p. 257). It became popular with British 

 dyers because, besides being made entirely from lichens found in the 

 British Isles (these grew in Norway and Sweden also), it was sold in 

 powdered form, which simplified application and storage. Some American 

 dyers of the 19th century considered cudbear too fugitive to be important; 

 others suggested it might even be sought for possible commercial exploita- 

 tion in this country. 



Litmus and tiu-nsole, infrequently mentioned in American dyers' 

 manuals, were made from lichens also. Litmus, still used as an indicator 



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