374 



SAFFLOWER. 



in competition, but only to a certain extent ; for while it produces 

 violet shades of greater brilliancy and beauty, its reds are inferior. 

 In order to completely replace madder, another principle of that 

 material must be present in the artificial product, namely purpurine, 

 which fui-nishes fine orange reds, but of which at the present time 

 even the chemical constitution is not definitely known. Hence it is 

 considered that the best tints can be obtained by artificial alizarine 

 and madder extract combined, employing the latter of the shade of 

 red most closely approximating orange. 



The imports of madder, madder root, and garancine, into the 

 United Kingdom, are shown in the following figures : 





Year. 



IVradder and 

 Madder Root. 



Year. 



Garancine. 







1840 

 1850 

 1800 

 1870 

 1875 

 1876 



cwts. 

 250,210 

 261,860 

 283,295 

 173,318 

 100,287 

 59,137 



1850 

 1860 

 1870 

 1875 

 1876 



cwts. 

 6,133 

 38,344 

 42,195 

 25,865 

 15,398 





MuNJEET. — The majority of the substances used in India for dyeing 

 red partake of the character of madder. The place occupied by 

 this dye stuff in Europe is supplied in India by the Morindas and 

 Munjeet. The munjeet of Neilgherry is referred to Buhia tinctoria, 

 and that of Affghanistan to Buhia cordifolia, Lin., or B. Miinjista, 

 Eoxb. It is cultivated in Assam, Nepaul, Bombay, and other parts 

 of the country, and has occasionally been exported to England, but 

 has never been much used in Great Britain, as the colours produced 

 from it are neither so fast nor so bright as those obtained with the 

 European madder. Munjeet fetches 29s. to 31s. the cwt. 



Chay Eoot (Oldenlandia umhellata, Lin.; Hedyotis umhelJata, 

 Lam.) ; another plant belonging to the order Eubiaceas, is also known 

 as Indian madder. It is much cultivated in sandy situations on the 

 Coromandel coast, and used to a great extent in the southern parts of 

 Hindostan by the native dyers. The celebrated red turbans of Madura 

 are dyed with it, and the Madras handkerchiefs or " pulicats " are 

 also dyed with it. 



In 1856 the land under culture with this root in Eajahmundry, 

 Masulipatam, and Guntoor, amounted to 2458 acres, besides the quan- 

 tity of wild produce. 



Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a tall annual, rather hand- 

 some herb. The florets produce yellow, rosy, ponceau, and other red 

 shades of dye, according to various admixtures. The pigment prin- 

 ciples are carthamin and carthamus yellow. Its coloimng matter, 

 called carthameine, " safflower carmine," is a resinoid substance of a 

 very beautiful, but unfortunately not very permanent red colour ; 

 when exposed to action of air and light, it slowly combines with 



