Osage Orange.—The wood of the bedge-plant, known as the Osage orange (Madura aurantica), when boiled in water, yields a yellow extract, which, in Texas, is employed as a handsome dye.
Panama Crimson.—The leaves of a vine called china, which grows abundantly in the hilly regions of the Isthmus of Panama, and sheds its leaves annually, are used by some of the natives for dyeing their straw hats of a beautiful crimson tint. Commercially this dye-stuff has been quite ignored, yet it possesses the valuable properties of withstanding sun and rain, without deteriorating in the least.
Persian, or Yellow Berries.—Bright yellows and greens are produced from a decoction of the berries of Rharanus tinctorius, B. infectorius, B. saxatilis, B. amygdalinus, B. &aides, which, among dyers, are known indiscriminately as "Persian berries," while among dealers, they are named from the place whence they are imported, as "Avignon grains," Spanish berries," "Turkish berries," "Persian berries." The different species or varieties of the plant grow well in France end Spain ; throughout Asia Minor and the E. Taurus, figuring largely among the exports of Alexan dretta and Smyrna ; and are much cultivated in Persia, especially in the neighbourhood of Kaswin. The berries should be gathered just before they arrive at maturity, otherwise good results cannot be obtained with them. After keeping for a year or two, they yield much less brilliant colours. The ycllower they appear, the lower is their market value. The berries are Reed by dyers of woollens and mixed fabrics, by calico-printers, paper-stainers, and leather-dressers. Their decoc tion also yields a lake (see Pigments). The London market value of Yellow berries is about 45-65s. a cwt.
Poppy (FR., Coquelicot ; GER., Klatschrosen).—A fine red colouring matter is furnished by the petals of the common red poppy, or corn rose (Papaver .Rhceas), an annual herb, found abundantly in fields throughout all Europe. The plant is a common accompaniment of cereal crops, and is plentiful in England and Ireland, but less common in Scotland. It seems to be strictly a native of Sicily, Greece, Dalmatia, and, perhaps, the Caucasus ; it is very common in Central and S. Europe, and in Asia Minor, whence it reaohes to Abyssinia, Palestine, and the banks of the Euphrates ; but it is absent from India and N. America. The colouring principle of the petals is still very imper fectly known ; it is readily taken up by water, and by spirit of wine, but not by ether. The petals,
preferably in a fresh state, are employed in pharmacy, for their fine colouring matter. They contain no medicinal principle.
Pupli.—The root-bark of the pupli (Ventilago Maderaspatana) is in common use in India, to produce orange, chocolate (with chay-root), and black (with galls) dyes. The roots are gathered by Yanadis, a rude tribe living in the jungles of the Nellore district, and subsisting by the collec tion of natural products.
Quercitron (FR., Quercitron ; GER., Quercitron).—Fine yellow colouring matter is obtained from the bark (deprived of epidermis) of a species of oak, called Quercus nigra (tinctoria). The tree is a native of N. America, and is found especially in the forests of Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the Carolinas. The most esteemed qualities are imported from Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore, The bark is removed from the tree, dried, and ground between mill-stones. The value of the powder is in direct proportion to its fineness, as the woody fibre of the bark, containing but little colouring matter, is not readily reduced. The bark is now seldom or never used directly by dyers, having been replaced by the preparation known as " flavine," the colouring principle of the bark in a commercial form. Flavin is made by two different processes :—(1) About 10 cwt. quercitron bark is boiled with 63 lb. soda crystals in about 2000 gal. water ; after boiling for about 15 minutes 250 lb. concentrated (sp. gr. 1.845) sulphuric acid is added ; the whole is then kept boiling for 2 hours, when it is run on to woollen filters, washed till free from acid, pressed, and dried. (2) A better method, perhaps, is as follows :—About 100 parts quercitron bark, 300 parts water, and 15 parts sulphuric acid (as before) are boiled together for 2 hours ; the mass is then washed, pressed, and dried, as in the first process. The yield from 100 parts quercitron bark should be 85 parts fiavine, with a dyeing power equal to 250 parts of the bark. Quereitron bark gives a fine yellow on woollens, but the colour reddens by exposure, and its use is on the decline. Flavine is employed in calico-printing, less as a yellow dye, than to communicate browns and oranges to madder rode.