362 
ON  BIXA  OKELLANA  AND  ANNATTO. 
the  cylinders,  the  seeds  are  the  third  time  completely  mashed, 
and  the  liquids  of  the  second  and  third  washings  are  immediate- 
ly introduced  in  a  kettle  to  evaporate.  From  the  sediment,  ta- 
piocca  de  urucu,  the  supernatant  liquor  is  decanted  and  set  aside 
to  gain  the  balance  of  the  coloring  matter,  which  may  he  still 
suspended.  When  the  evaporating  liquid  assumes  the  consist, 
ency  of  syrup,  the  tapiocca  de  urucu  is  gradually  added  and  the 
whole  stirred  constantly.  The  fire  must  now  be  slackened,  and 
regulated  with  great  care,  and  incessant  stirring  is  essential,  un- 
til the  mass  is  of  the  consistence  of  a  thick  extract,  when  the 
kettle  is  removed  from  the  fire  and  allowed  to  cool.  The  mass 
is  then  taken  out  in  pieces  with  both  hands  and  thrown  into  a 
box  lined  with  banana  and  palm  leaves  ;  each  time  the  hands  are 
rubbed  with  ageite  de  mammono,  impure  castor  oil,  to  keep  the 
mass  from  adhering  to  the  hands. 
From  the  uncultivated  Bixa  Orellana,  common  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, I  have  prepared  annatto.  From  a  sparingly  bearing 
tree  I  collected  16  pounds  of  capsules,  the  seeds  of  which,  by 
three  washings,  without  crushing,  yielded  2  pounds  of  a  nice 
color,  which  separated  from  the  first  washing  only  in  about  eight 
days.  The  liquor  was  experimentally  evaporated  in  brass,  iron, 
copper  and  porcelain  vessels  to  a  thick  extract  and  completely 
dried  in  the  sun.  The  coloring  matter  evaporated  from  the  begin- 
ning in  the  sun  was  the  best,  the  others  followed  in  this  order : 
2,  the  product  from  the  porcelain  dish  ;  3,  from  the  brass  ;  4, 
from  the  copper,  and  5,  from  the  iron  kettle.  The  quality  of 
annatto  from  the  same  port  may,  therefore,  considerably  vary, 
as  the  manufacturers  use  any  evaporating  vessel  they  may  hap- 
pen to  possess.  The  annatto  dried  in  the  sun  is  easily  soluble  in 
water,  forming  a  beautiful  orange  yellow  solution. 
Should  the  culture  of  coffee  near  the  coast  of  Brazil  become 
unprofitable,  on  account  of  the  soil  becoming  exhausted,  annatto 
might  easily  become  a  staple  product,  and  then  the  process  of 
its  preparation  would,  doubtless,  be  much  improved.  Bixa  Orel- 
lana, as  stated  before,  will  grow  in  almost  every  soil,  with  less 
than  half  the  care  and  labor  to  be  bestowed  on  the  often  failing 
coffee  tree.  But  then  the  question  would  arise,  would  the  con- 
sumption increase  with  an  increased  supply  of  annatto  ? — ArcMv 
der  Pharm.  1859,  March,  291—297.  J.  m.  m. 
