6 THE YELLOW DYE STUFFS OF CHINA AND INDIA. 



has the aspect of a brick-red powder, possessing, from its structure, that 

 peculiar mobile character which we notice in Lycopodium and Lupuline. It 

 also agrees with Lycopodium in the difficulty with which it is mixed with 

 water, and in the manner in which it ignites when thrown into the air over 

 the flame of a candle. Examined with a lens, or still better with the com- 

 pound microscope, it is seen to consist of garnet red, semi-transparent, 

 roundish granules, more or less mixed with minute stellate hairs, and the 

 remains of stalks, leaves, &c. The latter substances are easily removed by 

 careful sifting, the drug thereby acquiring a brighter red colour and more 

 uniform appearance." 



Kamala is insoluble in cold water, and nearly so in boiling water. It is 

 soluble in a solution of an alkaline carbonate, and still more so in one of 

 caustic alkali, a deep red solution being in either case produced. Professor 

 Anderson found the chemical composition to be as follows : — 



Resinous colouring matters 78*19 



Albuminous matters 7*34 



Cellulose, &c 7'14 



* V clICl *•• ••• ••• ••• ••• •*• ••• ■ • • •<• O iJ 



J V Sil ••• a • ■ •<• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •■• ••• O O — 



Volatile oil trace 



Volatile colouring matter ? 



100-00 



" Kamala is used throughout India as a dye for silk, its colour being 

 extracted by boiling it in a solution of carbonate of soda. The root of the 

 tree is said to be also used in dyeing." The best Kamala in the Madras 

 market conies from the Jivadi hills, between South Arcot and Salem. 



Pupli Chuckay. — The bark of the Pupli root is used in Mysore and 

 elsewhere, as yielding an orange dye. It is treated with alum, Myrabolans. 

 &c. It is produced by a Rhamnaceous plant, (Ventilago Maderaspatana)-, 

 many of which furnish a yellow dye. This dye stuff is in very common 

 use in India, and we think it deserves a trial at home. Hitherto it has 

 never been imported. The roots are collected by the Yanadis, a rude tribe 

 who live in the jungles of the Nellore district, and subsist by collecting 

 honey, wax, drugs, dyes, and other natural products. The Pupli is seldom 

 vised alone, but generally as an adjunct, with chay root, to produce a rich 

 chocolate colour, or, if with galls, a black. 



Axxatto. — This material is also used in India for dyeing orange. The 

 method adopted at Madras is thus described : " Tie a quantity of Annatto 

 seeds in a piece of cloth, soak it in water for twelve hours, squeeze the 

 colouring matter out in a basin of fresh water ; add cocoa-nut water, lime 

 juice, and alum powder ; steep the yarn in the mixture for four hours, and 

 then boil it for half-an-hour ; squeeze, and let it dry, when a deep orange 

 colour will be produced." This material is used extensively by washer- 



