Commercial saffron, or "Hay saffron," as it is called, consists of a mass of crooked threads, often united in threes; their colour varies from deep orange-red to whitish ; they have an aromatic, sharp odour, a pungent, balsam-like flavour, and are unctuous, tough, and flexible. Spanish saffron is quoted wholesale at 20-44s. a lb.
As a dye-stuff, saffron is now replaced by much cheaper substitutes ; it is, however, Mill retained for colouring medicines and confectionery, and is largely used as a condiment, on the Continent and in India. In the latter, it is also employed in religious rites; and medicinally, though it is quite inert as a drug. It is sparingly used in Italy, for staining skins. The colouring matter amounts to about 42 per cent., and is so powerful that a single grain will distinctly tinge 10 gal. of water.
The high price of saffron has always been a great incentive to adulteration, which is practised in a number of ways. Sometimes Calendula flowers dyed with Inwood, or safflower blossoms, or saffron stamens, or marigolds, or slices of pomegranate petal, are added. Another system consists in coating the genuine saffron with powdered carbonate of lime, previously ooloured orange-red ; barytes and emery powder are similarly used, and rendered adherent by honey. The weight is sometimes increased by the addition of oil or water. A curious fraud perpetrated in Italy is the substitution of shreds of fibrous beef, previously boiled to remove the soluble matters, then stained with solution of saffron, and dried. The presence of almost any adulterant can be detected by throwing a little of the sample into a glass of warm water : inorganic matters will create a turbidity ; organic substitutes can be recognized by their shape, and change of colour.
(FR., Santal rouge ; Gun., Botha Sandelholz).—The wood of Pterocarpus San ta/Om (perhaps also of Pt. Marsupeum), which is very commonly confounded with Sandal-wood (see Perfumes), contains the same colouring principle as Barwood and Camwood (q. v. ante). The tree is a native of S. India, as Canara, Mysore, Travancore, and the Coromandel Coast ; it ie also found in Mindanao, in the Philippines ; and the discovery of a large forest of the trees in the Fiji Islands has recently been announced. Our supplies are drawn from the S. Indian forests, where the tree
is now systematically cultivated (see Timber). The portions of the tree used in dyeing are the base of tho stem and the thickest roots. It is imported from Madras, in heavy logs, 3-5 ft. long, without bark or sap-wood. For use, it is reaped into small chips. It is employed chiefly on the Continent, for giving a " bottom " to cloth which is to be afterwards dyed with indigo ; it is also used as a colouring ingredient in pharmacy. It value is 6s. 3d.-6s. 6d. a cwt.
(FR., Bois de Sapan ; GER., Sapanholz).—The wood of Ccosalpinia Sapan may be considered the log-wood of the Eaet. The tree grows in Malabar; abundantly in Siam and the Tenasserim Provinces ; and in the Philippines. In Paulghtit, Madras, it is regularly cultivated. In the N. provinces of Siam, and along the hills dividing that country from Teuasserim, the tree grows wild. Great quantities are annually sent from Soupan and Bang-ehang, and from the W. coast of the Gulf of Siam, via Bangkok to Singapore, and to Dacca. Large forests of it are said still to exist about the head-waters of the Hlion Bwai and Dagyne rivers, and it is distributed more or less throughout the whole of the Tenasserim Provinces. The Philippines contribute largely to the commerce in Sapan-wood, most of the product being consumed in China, where it affords the common brownish-red dye of the poorer Chinese clothes. The exports from Manilla, in 1878, were 6019 tons, of which 5167 tons went to Hong Kong, and 545 tons to Great Britain ; the estimated value was 20,485/. The exports from Cebu, in the same year, were 781 piculs (of 139i lb.) ; and from Yloilo, 32,232 piculs were sent to Hong Kong, and 3522 piculs to the United States. The principal localities of production in Yloilo are the villages of Guimbal and Tigbanan, in the south of the island ; also the neighbouring island of Guimaras. The wholesale London prices are approxi mately :—Siam, 71. 10s. a ton ; Manilla, ; other kinds, 61. 103.-121. 7s. 6d. Both the trunk wood and root-wood are employed. It is much used in Pegu, for giving a red tint to Bilk ; and in Madras, for dyeing straw-plait for hat-making.