C 183 ] 



cloth, are yearly carried from England to China, 

 and that the Chinefe extract from them their fine 

 red pigments. If this be true, what methods are 

 employed to extract the colour ? 



9. It has been obferved that analogous fub- 

 ftances are moft proper for dying homogenous 

 bodies*; thus animal fubftances are beft for dy- 

 ing wool and (ilk, becaufe wool and filk are ani- 

 mal fubftances. A blue dye, made of woad (Ifatis 

 of Linnaeus) is found to be full of infects. Is it 

 not the fame cafe with indigo ? Are not all the 

 lafting dyes made from animal fubftances, or of 

 fuch as contain numerous infects ? 



10. The manner in which the beft indigo is 

 manufactured in the interior parts of Indoftan, 

 and the plant from which it is made. Is it from 

 the Indigofera or the Anil ? Are there any rules 

 to afcertain when the plant has foaked fuffkientlyj 

 and how long it ought to be beaten ? 



11. Is there any linen made of flax or hemp, 

 or what other fubftances are fpun and wove in In- 

 dia befides cotton ? What ufe is made of the yel- 

 low or brown cotton taken from the Bombax? Is 

 it manufactured for apparel, and appropriated for 

 a certain order of men, as priefts or Bramins ? 



12. Defcriptions and drawings of the inftru- 

 ments and machines employed by the Chinefe and 

 Indians to clean the cotton from the feeds. 



13. Is only European zaffer from cobalt ufed 

 by the Chinefe for painting their porcelain blue, 

 or have they fome of their own? If they have, 



* Vid. Hiftoire de l'Academie, an. 1768. art. n# 



what 



