328

DYEING AND CALICO PRINTING.

the slightest degree even the knowledge of the Malays, concerning dyesand dyeing fabrics, they (the Dyaks of Borneo) were in possession of somevery fast-dyed coarse fabrics, which were obtained by steeping the fibrousmaterials for some time in oil or fat, wringing out of the excess ofthese substances, and treading the greasy fabric about in the juice of someplants, or rather squeezing up with the feet the young leaves and twigs soas to obtain juice ; after this another immersion in oil was resorted to, andagain the squeezing operation just referred to; and lastly, after exposure toair, the fabrics were dyed a deep brownish-yellow by boiling them along withsome vegetable matter, which, on investigation by the explorers (among whomwere two physicians and a scientific chemist), proved to be simply an astrin-gent which did not dye, but only slightly—yet not permanently—stained cottonor other fabrics not previously oiled. There is no doubt that the oil adts as amordant in this case, and the treatment of treading the previously oiled clothabout in a vegetable readily-fermentable mass is, in all probability, done tocause the oil to undergo a peculiar change : the authors observe that, just asin Java, the inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago have in earlier timesenjoyed a high degree of civilisation ; they (the explorers) could not find outwhether at any former time there had been intercourse between the Chineseand the aborigines alluded to ; the Celestials are well enough acquainted withdyeing, and also that of producing a fast red, by means of chayaver.

We have now to say a few words about some produdts of the family of theRubiacece, not used in Europe, but in some parts of Asia, as dye materialsinstead of madder, which does not thrive well in too hot climates. Someexperiments for the cultivation of madder were made at the very extensivebotanical gardens at Buitenhorg (Java), but it was found that unless the culti-vation was proceeded with at a great elevation above sea-level, quite upon thehigh mountains, where European vegetables are purposely grown for the useof the Dutch colonists, madder did not thrive,—that is to say, the roots,although perfectly developed, did not yield any dye material worth mentioning,and the plant itself entirely degenerated. This has also been experienced atPondicherry, and other parts of the mainland of India where the cultivation ofmadder was tried. We owe to the researches of Messrs. E. Schwartz andD. Kcechlin some knowledge about the tindtorial produdls belonging to theRubiacece grown in India (Southern Asia), samples of which were brought toEurope by M. Gonfreville.* Among these, in the first place, is the chayaver,a plant cultivated on the coast of Malabar and Coromandel, where the root isemployed to impart a red dye to previously oiled cloth. This plant prefers asandy soil; the root is very much like twine, exhibiting a greyish externalcolour, while its thickness does not exceed a millimetre. Internally its colouris bright yellow. This material is very tough, and far less easily pulverisedthan madder roots. The chayaver is a material very generally used as a dyethroughout India; the chemical history and immediate analysis of this rootare almost unknown. Dr. Schiitzenberger obtained a small sample, and bytesting this he found that the chayaver contains chlorogenin and alizarin,—that its colouring matter is readily exhausted by means of alcohol, owing tothe natural acidity of the root, which does not contain lime salts. Messrs.Schwartz and Koechlin state, about this root, that they found it analogous to

* See “Bulletin de la Societe Industrielle,” vol. v., p. 301, and following.