INTRODUCTION.

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Perrault’s translation of * Vitruvius.’ Pliny says ' the Tyrians first dyedtheir wool in the liquor of the purpura, and afterwards in that of the buccinum ;the purple mentioned in Exodus, chap, xxv., was also twice dyed. Woolwhich had received this double Tyrian dye (dibapha) was so very costly, thatin the reign of Augustus each pound of it sold for 1000 Roman denarii (about^36 sterling). But lest this should not sufficiently exclude the use of it fromall who were not invested with the highest dignities, laws were made inflictingsevere penalties, and even that of death under the later emperors, upon all whomight presume to wear it. The art of dyeing this colour came at length tobe practised only by a few individuals, appointed and maintained by theemperors for that purpose; and it being interrupted about the beginning of the12th century ail knowledge of it was soon after lost, except what remained inthe more ancient writings; and during several ages this celebrated dye wasconsidered and lamented as an irrecoverable loss.”

This dye, in addition to its beauty, must also have been very fast, for it is re-corded that when the town of Susa was taken by the Greeks a large and valuablecollection of purple cloth was found amongst the treasures of the Persian kingDarius, and notwithstanding it had been kept for a period of 190 years, itslustre and beauty were undiminished. This account may be receivedas substantially correct, inasmuch as it is related by no less a person thanPlutarch. A complete history of this subject would occupy the entire spaceof a large volume, but the following brief outline may prove useful to thereader.

“ The earliest important event in the history of dyeing was the discovery ofthe effects of bases or mordants, and particularly that of alum in fixingadjective colouring matters. When or where this discovery was first madecannot be ascertained; there is, however, good reason to believe that alumand probably iron salts (which are the principal bases of modern calicoprinting) were employed by the Egyptians in producing those effects whichare described by Pliny, lib. xxxv.,seCt. 42 ; because they resemble others whichcalico printers now obtain by these means, and which at this time they cannotobtain by any other, even with all the knowledge since acquired ; and it hasbeen proved that the Egyptians borrowed this art from Hindostan, where itappears to have subsisted for more than 2000 years, probably with very littleif any variation or improvement during that long space of time; and if wemay judge of the means formerly employed in Hindostan for dyeing orstaining calicos by those which were found to be in use for that purpose whenthe nations of Europe first went thither by the Cape of Good Hope, we maysafely conclude that solutions of alum and of iron must have been themordants employed in fixing the adjective colours.”— Bancroft, ‘ ‘ On PermanentColours.”

Very little is now known as to the proficiency of the ancient inhabitants ofIndia in the arts of dyeing and weaving, but there is evidence to prove thatthe ancient nations who dwelt in that portion of Asia just alluded to, and alsothe ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Peru, enjoyed an advanced degree ofcivilisation, and were by no means wanting in skill in applying colours towoven tissues. Notwithstanding the sesthetical progress in civilisation madeby the Greeks, they appear to have advanced but little in the art of colouringwoven fabrics, and were in this respedt greatly behind the ancient Romans.

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