The process of Alxon or Langlois

—Boil two pails and a half of river water (30 pints), throw into it, a little afterwards, a pound of cochineal, add a filtered solution of six drachms of carbonate of soda and a pound of water, and let the mixture boil for half an hour; remove the copper from the fire, and let it cool, inclining it to one side. Add six drachms of pulverized alum, stir with a brush to quicken the solution of the salt, and let the whole rest 20 minutes. The liquor, which has a fine scarlet colour, is to be carefully decanted into another ve el, and there is to be put into it the whites of two eggs well beat up with half a pound of water. Stir again with a brush. The copper is replaced on the fire, the alumina becomes concrete, and carries down the colouring matter with it. The copper is to be taken from the fire, and left at rest for 25 or 30 minutes to allow the carmine to fall down. When the supernatant liquor is drawn off, the deposit is placed upon filter cloth stretched upon a frame to drain. When the carmine has the consistence of cream cheese, it is taken from the filter with a silver or ivory knife and set to dry upon plates covered with paper, to screen it from dust. A pound of cochineal gives in this way an ounce and a half of carmine. Proce of Madame Cenette of Amsterdam , with salt of sorrel.—Into six pails of river water boiling hot throw two pounds of the finest cochineal in powder, continue the ebullition for two hours and then add 3 oz. of refined saltpetre, and after a few minutes 4 oz. of salt of sorrel. In ten minutes more take the copper from the fire and let it settle for four hours; then draw off the liquor with a syphon into flat plates and leave it there for three weeks. Afterwards there is formed upon the surface a pretty thick mouldine , which is to be removed dexterously in one pellicle by a slip of whalebone. Should the film tear and fragments of it fall down, they must be removed with the utmost care. Decant the supernatant water with a syphon, the end of which may touch the bottom of the ve el, because the layer of carmine is very firm. Whatever water remains must be sucked away by a pipette. The carmine is dried in the shade, and has an extraordinary lustre.