RED-DYE WOODS. 
imiumei'able bmnclies spring forth and extend in every 
direction in a straggling luanner. The branches are 
armed with short strong upright thorns, the leaves are 
small, and never appeal' in luxuriant foliage. The flowers 
are of a beautiful red colour, and emit a fragrant smelL 
Both the thick bark and the white pithy part of the trunk 
are useless, the hard close*grained heart being the only 
portion impregnated with colouring matter. The wood 
is sometimes used in turning, and is susceptible of a good 
polish, but its chief use is as a red dye. By the addition 
of acids it produces a permanent orange or yellow colour, 
while the criuiscm tints which it imparts are very ileeting. 
The first Europeans that settled on tlie banks of the 
Amazons found that several of the Indian tribes that 
roamed about in their vicinity painted their bodies with 
a sho^vy orange-red colour. Their attention was by this 
means attracted to the Arnatto^ which attains about the 
size of our hazel-tree. The heart-shaped leaves are about 
four inches long, of a lighter green on the upper surface, 
and divided by fibi*es of a reddish-brown colour ; the rosy 
tiowers are succeeded by bristled pods somewhat resendjling 
those of a chestnut, which, bursting open wlien ripe, display 
a splendid crimson farina or pulp, in which are contained 
thirty or forty seeds, in shape similar to raisin stones. As 
soon as they have arrived at maturity the pods are gathered, 
divested of their husks, bruised, innnersed in water, and after 
a few weeks beaten with sticks to promote the separation of 
the pulp from the seeda The turbid liquor is then strained, 
boiled to a consistent paste, and finally formed into cakes, 
which are left to dry in the sun. In England arnatto is 
generally used by the dyer to give a deeper shade to the 
simple yellow. Being perfectly soluble in spirits of wine, 
it is much used in this state for lacquering and for giving 
an orange tint to the yellow varnishes. It is likewise 
employed in large quantities as a colouring ingredient 
for chbese, to which it gives the required tinge without 
imparting any unpleasant flavour or unwholesome quality. 
