848 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist.'" [June 1, 1895. 
at first to have only half the dyeing power of 
madder, a comparison of the patterns after soap- 
ing shows their colouring power to he about 
equal. The reds and pinks, with alumina mor- 
dant, are bluer in tone than the corresponding 
madder colours, while the lilacs, with iron mor- 
dant, are much superior both in intensity and 
purity. It dyes an excellent blue shade of Turkey- 
red, and on wool and silk, with chromium-, 
aluminium-, tin-, and iron-mordants, it gives good 
brown, red orange, and purple colours. All the 
chay-root colours are fast to light. 
Its application in dyeing presents no difficulty, 
it being merely necessary to add 2 per cent, of 
its weight of chalk to the dye-bath, or to gire it 
a preliminary washing with cold water, in order 
to neutralise or remove certain acid principles 
which interfere with the dyeing. 
Rubia Sikkimensis. — The roots of this plant 
furnish the bright red dye used by the hill tribes 
of the Naga Hills and Manipur. 
Its examination, both chemically and tine- 
torially, seems now to be made for the first time. 
Its colouring principles prove to be the same 
os those present in ordinary Munjeet (Itubia 
cordifolia), winch t he authors re-examined. u« .: 
purpiirin, mn/ijistiti or purpuro^cmtAin-cai'btKft/lie 
acid and purpuroianthin. 
Its application in dyeing presents no difficulty 
whatever; it requires no addition to {he dye- 
bath, such as chalk, and behaves in this, as in 
all other respects, exactly like munjeet, giving 
the same colours with the different mordants, 
etc., etc. 
A sample of Rubia kkatsiana gave similar re- 
sults. 
Morinda-root — Al Suranji. — This dye-stuff is 
the root of Mormda citrifolia, and has long been 
regarded as one of the most important of the fast 
red dye-stuffs of India, where it is extensively 
cultivated in many parts. Although introduced 
to the European dyers long ago, and in experi- 
mental dyeing successfully applied by Bancroft 
(1790), and by Schwartz and Xoechiin (1832), 
some modern experimenters have entirely failed 
to obtain from it the permanent Indian reds for 
which it is famous, and it has never been conft- 
mercially successful here in competition with 
madder. 
In 1848 Anderson isolated from it the glucoside 
iiwrinditie, from which, by sublimation, he pre- 
pared the useful colouring matter mprindo'ne, 
which has recently (1887-8) been shown by Thorpe. 
Greenall, and Smith to be a tri-hydro.i y-methyl- 
anthra-quinone. 
The authors made a brief chemical examination 
only of this root, and confirmed the last-men- 
tioned statement. They further noticed the 
presence, in very small quantity, of certain j T ellow 
substances not possessing dyeing power, which, 
from the similarity of origin, are probably identi- 
cal with those present in the root of Morinda 
umbdlata (Mang-kudu), referred to subsequently. 
With respect to the application of morinda 
root in dyeing, the difficulty experienced by 
some who have experimented with it, and the 
cause of its non-success in European commerce, 
have been due to the presence, in unusual 
amount, of certain acid principles, which inter- 
fere considerably with its dyeing propeity. 
Indeed, in its ordinary condition it gives little 
or no useful colour in dyeing, more particularly 
on unoiled calico, but on steeping the ground 
root for 2-'j hours in ten times its weight of 
cold water, then allowing to drain, and repeuting 
tluse operations two or three times, these 
injurious iicid principles (pectic matters, rubi- 
chloric acid, etc.) are removed, and the true dyeing 
properties of the root are unmasked. "K\en 
after this treatment, however, it is necessary 
to add to the dye-bath 1*8 per cent, of the 
root's weight of sodium carbonate, or 1 per cent, 
chalk. Thus applied, i , now dyes very much 
like madder, to which it is fully equal in 
colouring power but the reds with alumina 
mordant are yellower, and the lilacs with iron 
are redder. On Turkey-red prepared calico it 
gives a bright orange-red fust to the usual 
clearing processes. On wool and silk it giveb 
chocolate-brown, orange-red, bright orange, and 
dull purple to black, with the respective mordants 
of chromium, aluminium, tin, and iron. All 
the morinda-root colours may be characterised 
as fast to soap as well as to light. 
Many-kudu. — This dye-stuff, variously named 
by other authors, ounykoudnti, jony-koutong, 
koe-doe t etc., is the root bark of tnorituia vmbeUata, 
a shrub growing in many parts of India, where 
it seems to be sold as a variety of al root, 
which indeed it is. In the Malay Peninsula and 
in Java it is largely employed for producing 
the fast reds, etc., in the native calico-print- 
well known as " baticks." It sr-euis n ever to 
have been previously tubjecled to any careful 
examination, either by dyers or chemist-, 
although briefly referred to by Bancroft, <ion- 
freville, Schwartz and Koechlin and others. 
The chemical examination of this dye-stuff, 
now made for the first time, shows that it 
contains, like the root of morinda ciin [folia, 
chiefly the glucoside morindine to which its 
tinctorial properties are due : but it also contains 
several yellow or orange crystalline substances, 
devoid of dyeing power, viz. • a mono-methyl- 
ether of a tri-hydro.cy-methyl-anthra-qvinone, C'io 
H12 Og (ra. p. 17l°-173 3 ); a di-hydrory-methyl- 
anthra-quinone f'iu HlB O4 (m. p. 269°) : two 
substances C10 Hib OS. , (A) (m. p. 198'-199'i. 
and (B) (m. p. 208°), the latter apparently u 
hydi(j.ry-vi(-l}iyl-aiithra-f/i>in<iiie-€<<rbv.iylic arid ; a 
substance C'i6 II 12 Og : (m. p. 258 ) ; an orange- 
red substance fin. p. 282°)j and two others not 
yet examined. Other substances present are a 
crystalline wax Cis H28 O (in. p. ]24 c -lJo") 
rubichloric acid, and a little of the colouring 
matter morindine in the free state- One feature 
worth noting is that cane sugar, found in chay- 
root and in madder, is entirely absent. 
The tinctorial propetties of Mang-kudu are 
in all respects the same as those of Al root. It 
needs the same preliminary washing with water, 
the same additions to the dye-bath, and with 
the different mordants it yields the same colours, 
although much fuller because of its greater 
colouring powers. 
[The real Madder is Rubia tinctoria, cultivated 
in Europe and the Levant. R cordifolia is known 
as "Indian Madder," or "Indian red," but 
Oldenlandia umbeUata is also sometimes called 
"Indian Madder": while Morinda citrifolia is 
known as " The ludiau Mulberry."] 
