370 



MADDER. 



years ago, through Persia, to Adrianople, Greece, Italy, and Western 

 Europe. The colours were first obtained from a species known as 

 Munjeet (Hubia Munjista) ; then came into use the Turkey madder- 

 root. This plant was grown in England in 1624, at which time three 

 qualities were known — cropp, fatt, and mill madders. In the year 

 1798 there were only eleven madder-mills in the whole of France, 

 while now in the department of Vaucluse alone there are no fewer 

 than fifty in operation. French madder-root has a peculiar smell, and 

 a taste between bitter and sweet. Some kinds, as those of Alsace and 

 Holland, when mixed with water and allowed to stand for some time, 

 give a thick jelly ; this is not yielded to the same extent by Avignon 

 madder. If this madder is treated with an acid it produces a per- 

 ceptible effervescence, owing to the quantity of calcic carbonate which 

 it contains. 



The increased use of aniline dyes will, it is expected, lead to the 

 decline of the trade in madder roots. The producers, in view of a 

 diminished demand, have already commenced to limit their cultiva- 

 tion of the plant. The total growth of madder was calculated a few 

 years ago to amount to 47,600 tons, of a value of over 2,000,000/. 

 sterling. The value of that used in Great Britain in 1874 was under 

 800,000Z., in 1875 only 411,000Z., and in 1876 but 238,874Z. Dr. F. 

 Versmann, in a paper " On Anthracene and Alizarine," read before 

 the chemical section of the Society of Ai'ts in March, 1874, gave 

 some interesting details on madder. " In the East the madder plant 

 has been known since the earliest times. In Holland it has been 

 cultivated more than three hundred years ; in France it has risen 

 to great importance since the middle of last century, especially in 

 Avignon, which now produces about one half of all the madder 

 consumed, to the value of about 750,000Z. per annum. Turkey 

 and South Russia also supply considerable quantities of high 

 quality. Some experiments in cultivating madder in Great Britain 

 were made in Derbyshire, some years ago, but with indifferent 

 results. The soil, the climate, and the weather have the most decided 

 influence upon the growth of the plant, and the subsequent develop- 

 ment of the colouring principle. The Dutch madder will dye 

 red, but not purple, and the colour is not fast ; Naples madder dyes 

 red and purple, but the colours are fugitive ; that of Turkey dyes 

 good red and purple, and is very fast. France supplies the market 

 with two qualities, called rosees, from their dyeing beautiful reds and 

 pinks ; and paludes, which give a good purple, besides fine reds, con- 

 sidered the best French quality. The last name is derived from the 

 fact that the plants are grown on marshy land. The cultivation of the 

 plant and the ultimate separation of the colouring principles is a 

 matter of much time and uncertainty. The root must remain in the 

 ground for a long time — in France, two or three years ; in Turkey, 

 five or seven years — and after having been dried and coarsely pow- 

 dered, it must bo kept another year or two to develop the colouring 

 principles which are not ready formed in the root. For many cen- 

 turies, and until the beginning of the present one, the root was used 

 direct, and no attempt was made to separate the colouring matters or 

 to apply them in a concentrated and pure form, but with the develop- 



