TURMERIC

Curcuma , Terra merit a , ( Souchet , or Safran des Indes , Fr.; Gelbwurzel , Germ.); is the root of the Curcuma longa and rotunda , a plant which grows in the East Indies, where it is much employed in dyeing yellow, as also as a condiment in curry sauce or powder. The root is knotty, tubercular, oblong, and wrinkled; pale-yellow without, and brown-yellow within; of a peculiar smell, a taste bitterish and somewhat spicy. It contains a peculiar yellow principle, called curcumine , a brown, colouring-matter, a volatile oil, starch, . The yellow tint of turmeric is changed to brown-red by alkalis, alkaline earths, subacetate of lead, and several metallic oxides; for which reason, paper stained with it is employed as a chemical test. Turmeric is employed by the wool-dyers for compound colours which require an admixture of yellow, as for cheap browns and olives. As a yellow dye, it is employed only upon silk. It is a very fugitive colour. A yellow lake may be made by boiling turmeric powder with a solution of alum, and pouring the filtered decoction upon pounded chalk.