74 MICA AND ITS USES. 



carelessness in collection than this, the superiority of the Chinese article 

 may be traced to this cause. 



Hoang-tchi, or Sqfflower. — This substance is the colouring principle of 

 the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius, L., known as sqfflower. The plant is 

 cultivated, for tinctorial purposes, extensively in the provinces of Sse- 

 tchouen, Yun-nan, Ho-nan, Kiang-si, and Chenai. The method of prepa- 

 ration is described as follows : — " The flowers are placed in a bag of clotb, 

 strongly pressed, being first dipped in pure water, and then in the water of 

 sourrin; the bag is wrung several times, in order to extract all the yellow 

 juice. This done, the flowers that now contain only the red colour are 

 damped with a watery solution of the ashes of rice straw, covered with 

 green herbs, the day after they are formed into thin cakes." 



The Chinese have been noted for producing on cotton and silk a brilliant 

 scarlet colour. 



Godari, or Dliauri. — The red flowers and leaves of Grislea tomentosa are 

 used for dyeing purposes. In the Northern Circars, where it is known 

 under the name of Godari, the leaves are employed in dyeing leather. 

 Sheep-skins, steeped in an infusion of the dried leaves, become a fine red, 

 of which native slippers are made. The dried flowers are employed in 

 Northern India, under the name of Dliauri, in dyeing with Morinda bark ; 

 but perhaps more for then* astringent than for their tinctorial properties. 

 Dr. Gibson states that in Kandeish the flowers form a considerable article 

 of commerce inland as a dye. It grows abundantly in the hilly tracts of 

 the Northern Circars. 



Teak Flowers. — The flowers of the Teak tree (Tectona grandis) are 

 used in parts of India for dyeing red ; but their use appears to be confined 

 to a few localities. 



Pomegranate Flowers. — The beautiful flowers of Punica granatum 

 are affirmed to be in use in Bellary as a red dye ; but how far they are 

 available for general dyeing purposes we are unable to affirm. "We should 

 imagine their use to be entirely local, since they are unknown as a dye-stuff" 

 in most other parts of India. 



MICA AND ITS USES. 



Mica is a finely foliated mineral, of a pearly metallic lustre. There is 

 great diversity in the composition of mica, coming from different locali- 

 ties ; generally it is a silicate of alumina united with silicates of iron and 

 potash. Yery beautiful specimens of mica abound in the United States. At 

 Acworth, New Hampshire, they he embedded in felspar ; at Monroe, New 

 York, a large vein of a green-coloured variety exists. The crystals at 

 Goshen, Massachusetts, are rose-red and rhomboidal ; and that found in 

 Brunswick, Maine, is in emerald-green scales. 



