THE INDIGENOUS DYES OF BENGAL. 157 



sulphate in 150 cc. water (for 5 gms. cloth), wrung out and dried; then 

 boiled for one hour in a decoction made from 10 gms. bakam-wood. A full 

 shade, purplish black, was obtained. 

 Palas. — Banerjee (loc. cit. t p. 24). 



(1) Boil the silk for 30 minutes in water with an equal weight of the dried 



flowers. A light yellow shade was obtained. 



(2) Cloth previously mordanted with alum was similarly treated. A medium 



orange yellow shade was obtained. 



The opportunity was taken in February to use fresh flowers in the hope of 

 dyeing deeper shades, but no better result was given than by the old dried flowers. 



Annatto, Orleans or Latkan. — Native processes described in considerable detail by 

 Banerjee (loc. cit. } p. 24). 



The Murshidabad process for dyeing silk with latkan was incidentally quoted 

 in Part I of this investigation. The Nadia process for dyeing cotton a fast orange 

 colour was also quoted. Banerjee continues : " Silk is dyed in Nadia in the same way 

 with the following variation in the time for steeping : Three hours in babul water, four 

 hours in latkan water, three hours again in babul water, arid 18 hours in alum water." 



(1) In following the Murshidabad process, 5 gms. of silk were boiled for 



30 minutes in a decoction of 5 gms. latkan seeds, 7 gms. sajimati and 

 200 cc. water. A full bright orange shade was obtained. 



(2) In following the Nadia process the silk was first mordanted in a solution 



containing 10 per cent, tannin, wrung out and dried, then dyed in a bath 

 containing 5 gms. latkan and 7 gms. sajimati (for 5 gms. silk), then 

 again entered in the tannin solution and finally into an alum solution 

 (saturated at the ordinary temperature) entering in this last bath at the 

 boil and subsequently allowing to cool. A full bright orange shade was 

 obtained. 

 Manjista. — A summary of the processes described by McCann for dyeing with 



this material has been already given (Part I of this investigation). 



On silk neither the dyeing without mordant in the aqueous decoction alone, 



nor the dyeing after previously mordanting with tannin, gave full shades, and the 



samples prepared by these processes were not further examined. 



(1) In imitation of the Midnapur process, the silk was first mordanted with 



alum-soda, as described in dyeing with bakam-wood, and then boiled 

 for one hour in a bath made from 10 gms. of manjista (for 5 gms. cloth). 

 A full orange-red shade was obtained. 



(2) Silk dyed according to (1) was subsequently boiled for half an hour in a 



soap-bath containing 25 per cent, soap (reckoned on weight of silk), then 

 rinsed and passed for ten minutes through a 3 per cent, solution of acetic 

 acid at i8o°F. A full red shade remained These subsequent operations 

 were carried out in order that a sample dyed with manjista might 

 compete on equal terms with alizarine dyeings. The dye contained in 

 manjista is known to be similar to alizarine, and this subsequent soaping 



