245 



The leaves and young shoots yield a blue dye, shown by 

 Perkin to be identical with that furnished by several species of 

 Indigofera (S. Nigeria Govt. Gaz. July 14th 1909, Suppl. p. 28). 



The bulk of the Indigo used by the natives of the W. Province, 

 S. Nigeria is obtained from this plant (Thompson, Col. Rep. Misc. 

 No. 51, 1908, p. 5). 



Indigo prepared by the natives of Kontagora, was found to contain 

 about 21*5 per cent, of indigotin, and therefore of poor quality in 

 comparison with Indian or Java Indigo {Indigofera tinctoria, and 

 /. arrecta), which may contain up to 80 per cent, of indigotin. The 

 dried plant as used at Oshogbo, W. Province, S. Nigeria, was 

 found to contain only # 65 per cent, of indigotin (Bull. Imp. Inst. 

 1909, p. 319). 



In Sierra Leone the prepared plant is soaked in water for about 12 

 hours, and the yellowish liquid is then thrown away, the wet residue 

 being allowed to ferment for two or three days. During this period 

 of fermentation, powdered root bark of the "brimstone" tree {Morinda 

 citrifolia), is added together with some potash. Water w T ith a 

 decoction of the Morinda bark and more potash is then added. The 

 mixture is then left exposed to the sun all day and stirred from time 

 to time, but is covered up at night and after about nine days time 

 is ready for use. The fabric to be dyed is left in the liquid for some 

 time and then dried in the sun, and the operation is repeated until 

 the required shade of blue is obtained (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1907, p. 129). 



The dye is prepared by the natives from the young leaves which 

 are pounded in a mortar into a black pasty state ; this is made into 

 balls, four or five inches in diameter, dried, and is then ready for 

 the market. One ball to a gallon of water is used in dyeing ; the 

 cloth is immersed for four days, the dye is fixed with potash, and a 

 very permanent and fine deep blue is thus obtained (Barter, Herb. 

 Kew ; Kew Bull. 1888, p. 75 ; Hook, Ic. PI. t. 1791). The process 

 is somewhat similar in Sierra Leone (Scott Elliot, Herb. Kew). 



A method patented several years ago in France is as follows : — The 

 leaves are cut up into small pieces, fermented in water for from seven 

 to twelve hours, according to the temperature, and pressed through a 

 filter. The clear, colourless liquid is then precipitated with lime — air 

 being blown through the mass — and the indigo is obtained in a solid 

 state. To bring all impurities into solution and to facilitate the 

 settling of the indigo the lime vat is boiled for a quarter of an hour 

 at the end of the oxidation process. The liquid is then decanted and 

 the indigo blue made into cakes which are dried in the shade in the 

 open air (St. James' Gazette, March 29th, 1902). 



In England the dye from this plant has been valued at Is. to 4.s. (W. 

 per lb., compared with fine Bengal then (1883) worth from 7s. to 

 7s. 6d. per lb. (Thistleton-Dyer, Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. p. 406). 



The root has been mentioned as a possible cure for leprosy, and a 

 stomach medicine is obtained from the plant, Sierra Leone (Soon 

 Elliot, Herb. Kew). 



The plant is common near rivers, found as a twiner 30 feet high 

 near the river in Nupe (Barter, Herb. Kew). There are plantations 

 of several hundred acres in Abeokuta. Under cultivation the plants are 

 kept about seven or eight feet high, being spurred and bushy with 

 regular cutting (Kew Bull. 1888, p. 75). 



Ref, — "West African Indigo," Thiselton-Dyer, in Journ. Linn. Soc. 

 xx. 1884, pp. 404-406. " Yoruba Indigo " (Lonchomrpus cyanes- 



