SAPFLOWER. 



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oxygen by elimination of water and carbonic acid, and is converted 

 into a yellow substance. The " pink saucers " sold in shops for 

 various purposes, contain carthameine, and mixed with talc it forms 

 the rouge used by females for painting their faces. 



In France and Spain, the small flowers composing the heads of the 

 thistle are picked off and dried in the shade, whilst in Egypt and 

 India they are squeezed, washed with cold water to remove useless 

 materials, slightly pressed into lumps, and dried in the shade ; the 

 latter have about double the value of the former. The safflower so 

 prepared only contains three to six parts per thousand of the colour- 

 giving principle, which has received the name of carthamic acid. We 

 also import a small quantity of " extract of safflower." The dried 

 flowers, which are very much like saffron in appearance, have been em- 

 ployed to adulterate that drug. The florets are used by the Chinese 

 to give rose, scarlet, purple, and violet colours to their silks. They 

 are thrown into an infusion of alkali, and left to macerate. The 

 colours are afterwards drawn out by the addition of lemon-juice in 

 various proportions, or of any other vegetable acid. The dye-stuff is 

 imported into England from many parts of Europe, and from Egypt, 

 for dyeing and painting. It is also used in cakes, but if too much 

 is used has purgative qualities. The dried florets yield a beautiful 

 colouring matter, which attaches itself without a mordant. It is 

 chiefly employed for colouring cotton, and produces various shades. 

 In Bangalore silk is dyed with it, but the dye is fugitive, and will not 

 bear washing. An alkaline extract precipitated by an acid will give 

 a fine rose colour to silks or cotton. The flower is gathered and 

 rubbed down into powder, and sold in this state. When used for 

 dyeing, it is put into a cloth and washed in cold water for a long 

 time to remove a yellow colouring matter. It is then boiled, and 

 yields the pink dyeing liquid. ^ 'The Chinese safflower is considered 

 superior to the Indian. In Assam, Dacca, and Eajpootana, it is 

 cultivated for exportation. That from Bombay is least esteemed. 

 The mode of gathering the flowers and preparing the dye as practised 

 in Europe, where the plant is much cultivated, is as follows. The 

 moment the florets, which form the compound flowers, begin to open, 

 they are gathered in succession without waiting for the whole to 

 expand, since, when allowed to remain till fully blown, the colour is 

 much faded. As the flowers are collected, they are dried in the 

 shade. This work must be carefully performed, for if gathered in 

 wet weather, or badly dried, the colour will be much deteriorated. 

 These flowers contain two kinds of colouring matter, the one yellow, 

 which is soluble in water, the other red, which being of a resinous 

 nature, is insoluble in water, but soluble in alkaline carbonates. The 

 first is never converted to any use, as it dyes only dull shades of 

 colour. The other is a beautiful rose red, capable of dyeing every 

 shade, from the palest rose to the cherry red. It is therefore requisite 

 before the flowers can be made available to separate the useless from 

 the valuable colour, and since the former only is soluble in water, this 

 operation is a matter of little difficulty. The flowers are tied in a 

 sack and laid in a trough, through which a slender stream of water is 

 constautly flowing, while still further to promote the solution of the 



