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TUEMEKIC. 



numerous methods of adulteration invented ; tliese occur, for the most 

 part, in the saffron sold in France, Bavaria, and Austria. The Italian 

 saffron is paler ; it, however, dyes a very good colour. The English 

 saffron is always very dry, and is easily pulverized, and therefore is 

 poorer. The poorer saffron comes from Spain, and is made heavy 

 by the introduction of a fatty oil. This can be easily distinguished 

 by rubbing a quantity between the fingers, when an oily feeling is 

 noticeable, which is never present in tlie pure saffron that has not 

 been tampered with. 



Mr. Henry Groves, in giving an account of saffron culture in the 

 Abruzzi district of the Apennines, states that adulteration is carried 

 out in various ways, the chief one being by mixing with it shredded 

 beef, of which a suitable piece is boiled, and then shredded into small 

 fibres, which are stained with saffron water and then dried. The 

 filaments of the stamens are also dyed in the same manner and inter- 

 mixed. To make the saffron water about 15 grammes of the stigmata 

 are tied up in a cloth and soaked with a little water or wine, which 

 after a time is pressed out, and the process repeated as long as any 

 colouring matter remains. The exhausted saffron is used by the 

 country people in their polento, to which it imparts some slight 

 flavour. 



One of the richest centres of cultivation of crocus is Safranboly, in 

 the vilayet of Kastamouny, in the province of Anatolia, near the ports 

 of the Black Sea, and therefore not far from Constantinople. Its 

 prosperity is entirely owing to the growth of saffron. The bulbs are 

 transplanted in April ; they multiply very rapidly, and in three years' 

 time yield an abundant crop in autumn, which fetches about 65 francs 

 per lb. It is frequently met with in a sophisticated state, owing to its 

 high price; indeed, according to Pereira, it takes nine flowers to make 

 up a grain of marketable saffron, so that it does not require less than 

 4320 flowers to yield one ounce. Some assert that to produce 1 lb. 

 of dry saffron 107,520 flowers are necessary ; while others put the 

 quantity as high as 203,920 flowers. According to Dumesnil (Acad, 

 des Sciences) 7000 to 8000 flowers are required for yielding 17^ oz. 

 of fresh saffron, and this weight is reduced to one fifth by drying. 

 The adulteration is effected by the admixture of safflower, marigold, 

 or slices of the petals of the pomegranate. 



Saffron of an excellent quality is produced in the Eegency of 

 Tunis. The culture is carried on about the town of Tastus, but only 

 on a small scale. Saffron is grown in China and Japan, and the 

 mountains of Cashmere, but it is not the same species as that grown 

 in Europe. 



TuRMEEic, — This dye-stuff is the produce of the rhizomes of 

 Curcuma longa. These as entering into commerce differ materially in 

 their exterior form, and have hence been attributed to different plants, 

 but they are all the produce of C. longa. Messrs. Fluckiger and 

 Hanbury, in their ' History of the Principal Drugs,' give a good defi- 

 nition of the two sorts of rhizome which enter into commerce, the 

 central or round, and the lateral or long. " The former are ovate, 

 pyriform or sub-spherical, sometimes pointed at the upper end, and 

 crowned with the remains of leaves, while the sides are beset with 



