242 Proceedings of the Asiatic Saciety. [March, 



Major Taylor submitted a Report (which was read) of the progress 

 of the experimental Boring in Fort William up to the period of his resign- 

 ing charge in consequence of his change of appointment. 



[Printed in the present No. page 234.] 

 The Secretary stated that he had to bring to the notice of the 

 Society a most unexpected sequel to Major Taylor's operations. Almost 

 the first withdrawal of the auger by Colonel D. Macleod, Engrs., who suc- 

 ceeded in charge of the experiment, brought up a relic well calculated 

 to reward the skill and labor of all his predecessors — a fossil bonk from 

 a depth of 350 feet below the surface of Calcutta! which Col. M. presented 

 for deposit in the Society's Museum. 



[See separate note appended to the report.] 

 Dr. B. Burt, 4th Regt. N. I., forwarded for the inspection of the 

 Society, specimens of silk cloth dyed from the leaves of the teak tree, 

 one yellow, the other olive. The following information on the subject of 

 Dr. Burt's discovery of this cheap and durable dye is extracted from his 

 letter to the Secretary, dated Berhampur, 4th March : — 



"These properties of the leaves of the teak tree I accidentally discovered about 

 five years ago, when I purchased the Honorable Company's teak plantation at 

 Bauleuh, since cut down ; but I had not an opportunity till lately of trying the effects 

 of various mordants on it, when Mr. Laidlay, an expert practical chemist, was 

 kind enough to assist rae with his experience in the art of dyeing. 



" The leaves at all seasons of the year contain the dye, but during the rains and cold 

 weather, when their vegetation is most vigorous, they contain a greater quantity of 

 it. They also retain it when dried for any length of time, so as to admit of its being 

 exported to Europe, and I am sanguine enough in thinking it will become, when 

 known there, a valuable article of trade with the mother-country. 



•' The experiments have as yet been tried with silk cloth alone, and with two mor- 

 dants only, alum and acetate of iron, and the result is very satisfactory, the colors 

 produced being permanent, and can be extracted from the leaf either by boiling or 

 steeping in cold water. I have as yet unsuccessfully tried to obtain the dye in its 

 pure state : its quantity, however, in the leaves and stalks of the leaves, as compared 

 with other vegetable dyes, is very considerable. 



" The piece of yellow silk sent was steeped in a saturated solution of alum for twelve 

 hours, afterwards washed and dried, and then steeped in a cold decoction of the leaves 

 for about three hours. The decoction was prepared from the green leaves and boil- 

 ed for three hours, but the coloring matter may be extracted in much less time. 

 The olive colors were obtained from the same piece of silk in its yellow state, steeped 

 in acetate of iron for two or three hours. These colors may be varied, by more or 

 less steeping in the dye liquor, from the most delicate straw color to the brightest 

 yellow and olive green. Twelve of the leaves dried weighed three ounces and were 

 boiled for an hour in two and a half quarts of water, one and a half quarts of liquor 

 fit for dyeing was obtained on straining it, sufficient to dye several yards of cloth of 

 the brightest yellow. From this some idea may be formed of the quantity of coloring 

 matter in the leaf. 



" Another property this dye contains superior to similar dyes used in this country, is 

 that its color does not run or mix with other colors when printed on the same cloth. 

 " I intend making a few experiments with it on cotton, and may hereafter com- 

 municate the result." 



A subsequent letter adds the following information : — 

 " Since forwarding the communication regarding the dye of the teak tree leaf, the 

 following results of several experiments made with it deserve notice. 



" The dye exists in the substance of the leaf, not in its stalks, as I at one time 

 supposed. Alcohol extracts both the dye and the green coloring matter of the leaf. 

 Water, hot or cold, extracts the dye alone. Soda, potash, the muriate of tin, and an 

 astringent flower used by the natives in dying, called dhyephtil, decompose this dye. 

 Liquor ammonia changes the yellow imparted to cloth to a snuff brown. Soap mixed 

 with the decoction heightens the yellow color, but impairs the natural brilliancy of 

 the silk. The acetate of iron produces from a dark slate color to every shade of 

 green and olive, according to its strength and time of steeping. Boiling the leaves 

 for an hour or two destroys the color ; this I am inclined to think arises from some 

 of the leaves being carbonized by the heat of the vessel. — The most simple and easy 

 wav of extracting the dye is as follows. Take two gallons of water to one pound of 

 the dry leaves ; bring it slowly to the boiling point in a copper or earthen vessel ; allow 



