202 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



of Campeachy, was formerly the mart for logwood ; but it is 

 now extensively cultivated in Jamaica, and the chief trade 

 is removed to Belize, a British settlement in the Bay of 

 Honduras, whence immense quantities are annually ex- 

 ported. Logwood was introduced into England as a dye in 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but, owing to the ignorance 

 of the dyers in fixing the colour, it fell into such disrepute 

 as to occasion the passing an Act of Parliament, entitled 

 an " Act for abolishing certain deceitful stuffs employed in 

 dyeing cloths;" this law remained in force, and prohibited 

 the use of logwood, until 1661, when it was repealed. 



This Hmmatoxylon is a tree reaching fifty feet in height. 

 The wood is very hard and dense, having a greater specific 

 gravity than water ; the leaves are very handsome, they are 

 pinnate and of a fine dark glossy green colour ; the flowers 

 are pea-shaped, in fine yellow racemes. 



The colouring matter depends upon a peculiar principle 

 called kamatin, or hematoxylin, a red crystalline substance, 

 which is so abundant in some samples as to exist in the 

 form of distinct blood-red crystals. The stems are cut into 

 large logs, and the bark and alburnum, or white wood, is 

 chopped off; the dark-red inner wood being the only 

 valuable portion. 



