660 



The dried rhizomes are a well-known condiment, largeh' used 

 in the preparation of curry powder, as a colouring master iu 

 confectionery and to some extent for the same purpose in 

 medicine. Used also as a dye in Europe, India (Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. India), West Africa, Congo region, etc., in Tropical Africa, 

 a yellow tincture obtained from the rhizomes being used to 

 colour hides in the Nigerian Soudan, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, and 

 the Congo, where the plant is cultivated for the purpose (Chevaher, 

 Bull. Soc. Nat. d'Accl. France, 1912, p. 317) and in the process 

 of tanning in Northern Nigeria, " a pale yellow is imparted to 

 the skin by an infusion made from the root of a kind of turmeric 

 which is pounded up for the purpose " (Dudgeon, Agric. & For. 

 Prod. W. Afr. p. 138). " Gangammo " root in the dyeing of 

 yellow leather " is merely powdered up, mixed with water and the 

 mixture rubbed into the skin, which is then finished off as for 

 red leather " (BuU. Imp. Inst. 1908, p. 179). The rhizome is 

 sold in the form of slices for use as a yellow dye for leather, 

 N. Nigeria (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc. p. 33). The process of 

 dyemg cloth (chiefly cotton and to some extent for silk) in China 

 appears to be equally simple—" one catty [1^ lb.] of the powder 

 is boiled in a pot of water and the cloth having been damped 

 with cold water is placed in the pot and boiled for an hour, 

 removed, washed in clean water ancT dried in the sun " (Hosie, 

 Rep. Ssiichuan, China, No. 5, 1904, p. 44); for this purpose 

 however, the yellow colouring matter — curcumin — "possesses 

 the serious drawback of being changed into red by soap or by 

 alkahs ; the best shade is obtained on wool previously mordanted 

 with bichrome and oxaUc acid (Srivastava, Agric. Journ. India, 

 Special Congress No., 1916, p. 56). In India a form mth a 

 harder rhizome than the aromatic one used as a spice is used for 

 dyeing (Ridley, Spices, p. 436). 



Both round and long forms come into commerce, and the 

 prices in 1909 — quoted for this year because of the mention of 

 a consignment from Africa— for "Bombay bulbs," 145.-145. 6d. 

 per cwt., when for " a package of medium to bold flat ' African 

 Finger ' of good colour, shipped from Chinde, no bid was made " 

 (Chem. & Druggist, May 22nd, 1909, p. 809). In 1920, in 



Qd 



6d.-50s. and Cochin 



# 



For cultivation [and yield-approx. the same] see under Zingiber 

 zinale. 



^^f- — " On the Commercial Varieties of Turmeric," Pereira 

 in Pharm. Journ [1] 1850, pp. 309-313, \^'ith iUustrations of 

 ■Chma," "Bengal," "Madras," "Malabar" and "Java" 



Turmeric. "On African Turmeric," Daniell, in Pharm 



Journ. [2]i. 1859, pp. 258-260. -"Turmeric," in Diet. Econ 



Prod. India, Watt, ii. 1889, pp. 659-669. " Curcuma longa;' 



in Comm. Prod. India, Watt, pp. 445-449 (John Murray, London, 



1908). " The Cultivation of Turmeric on the Foot-hills of 



Toungoo, Burma," Sawyer, in Agric. Journ. India, iv. 1909 



