“The pods of the tree being gathered, their seeds are taken out and bruised; they are then transferred to a vat, which is called the steeper, where they are mixed with as much water as covers them.  Here the substance is left for several weeks or even months; it is now squeezed through sieves placed above the steeper, that the water containing the coloring matter in suspension may return into the vat.  The residuum is preserved under the leaves of the pine-apple shrub, till it becomes hot by fermentation.  It is again subjected to the same operation, and this treatment is continued till no more color remains.

“The substance thus extracted is passed through sieves, in order to separate the remainder of the seeds, and the color is allowed to subside.  The precipitate is boiled in coppers till it be reduced to a consistent paste; it is then suffered to cool, and dried in the shade.  Instead of this long and painful labor, which occasions diseases by the putrefaction induced and which affords a spoiled product, Leblond proposes simply to wash the seeds of arnotto till they be entirely deprived of their color, which lies wholly on their surface; to precipitate the color by means of vinegar or lemon juice, and to boil it up in the ordinary manner, or to drain it in bags as is practised with indigo.

“The experiments which Vauquelin made on the seeds of arnotto imported by Leblond, confirmed the efficacy of the process which he proposed; and the dyers ascertained that the arnotto obtained in this manner was worth at least four times more than that of commerce; that, moreover, it was more easily employed; that it required less solvents; that it gave less trouble in the copper, and furnished a purer color.”—­("Dict. of Arts.”)

Our imports of arnotto for home consumption are from 200,000 to 300,000 lbs. per annum.  The plant is grown in Dacca and other parts of India, and the eastern Archipelago.  At the Hawaiian Islands, Tongataboo, Rio Janeiro, Peru and Zanzibar, the arnotto is an indigenous shrub which rises to the height of seven or eight feet, producing oblong heavy pods, somewhat resembling those of a chesnut.  Within these there are generally thirty or forty irregularly-formed seeds, which are enveloped in a pulp of a bright red color, and a fragrant smell.

The imports of arnotto have been as follows:—­

Retained for
lbs.       home consumption.
1834      252,981             —­
1835      163,421             —­
1839      303,489          224,794
1840      408,469          330,490
1847      270,000          296,821
1849      162,400          145,824
1850      301,504          231,280

The price of flag arnotto in the London market, in June 1853, was 1s. per lb.

We imported from France, in 1850, 1,924 cwt. of roll or flag arnotto, of the official value of L21,499; and in 1851, 1,253 cwt., worth L13,968.

Wood dye exported from Ceylon—­