meter.

The imports may be stated at about 600 tons annually, the average
price being L50 per ton.

Brazil wood is found in the greatest abundance and of the best
quality, in the Province of Pernambuco, but being a government
monopoly it has been cut down in so improvident a manner, that it is
now seldom seen within several leagues of the coast.

Among the Cuba dye woods is Copey _(Clusia rosea_, Linn).

Braziletto, obtained from _C. Crista_, is one of the cheapest and
least esteemed of the red dye woods, imported from Jamaica and other
West India islands to the extent of 150 tons per annum, fetching L6 to
L8 per ton. 2,361 tons of Nicaragua wood were imported in 1848, 2,701
tons in 1849, and 6,130 tons in 1850.

Spain exhibited various vegetable dyes obtained from cultivated and
wild plants furnished by the Agricultural Board of Saragossa.

LICHENS.

The chief lichens employed in the manufacture of orchil and cudbear
are the following:--

Angola weed (_Ramalina furfuracea_).

Mauritius weed (_Rocella fusiformis_), which comes also from
Madagascar, Lima, and Valparaiso, and then bears the distinctive
commercial name of the port of shipment.

Cape weed (_Rocella tinctoria_), from the Cape de Verd Islands.

Canary Moss (_Parmelia perlata_).

Tartareous Moss (_Parmelia tartarea_).

Pustulatus Moss (_Umbilicaria pustulata_).

Velvet Moss (_Gyrophora murina_).

The last three are imported from Sweden.

Of these lichens, the first, which is the richest in coloring matter,
grows as a parasite upon trees; all the remainder upon rocks.

_Rocella corallina_, _Variolaris lactea_ and _dealbata_, have been
also resorted to.

About 130 tons of cudbear are imported annually from Sweden.

These lichens are found on rocks, on the sea coast. The modes, of
treating them for the manufacture of the different dyes is the same in
principle, though varying slightly in detail. They are carefully
cleaned and ground into a pulp with water, an ammoniacal liquor is
from time to time added, and the mass constantly stirred in order to
expose it as much as possible to the air. Peculiar substances existing
in these plants are, during this process, so changed by the combined
action of the atmosphere, water, and ammonia, as to generate the
coloring matter, which, when perfect, is pressed out, and gypsum,
chalk, or other substances, are then added, so as to give it the
desired consistency; these are then prepared for the market