10. Good soft red.
11. Good red.
12. The indigoes, fine coppery, good coppery, ordinary coppery, and low coppery.
The Indigoes of Oude and Coromandel.—These are made in the interior of Hindostan. Those of the best quality correspond to the middling Bengal indigoes, and are met with in square masses, having an even fracture, but are more difficult to break; the inferior qualities are heavy, of a sandy feel, having a blue color, bordering on green or gray, or even black; often in large squares, and covered with a slight crust or rind of a greenish color. They are the most difficult to break of all the indigoes of commerce.
Madras Indigoes.—They have a grained fracture, and are of a cubical figure. The superior qualities have no rind. The qualities are fine blue, mixed violet blue, and ordinary. They are all lighter, and less rich in coloring matter than the Bengal indigoes.
Manilla Indigoes.—These occur in cubical blocks, flat squares, or in irregular pieces. They are light, with a fine paste, and of a clear blue. They effervesce with acids, showing the presence of carbonate of lime incorporated in their paste. They are consequently poor in coloring material, and are hence almost exclusively used as a bluing material in washing fabrics.
American Indigoes. Guatemala.—These indigoes are produced now altogether in Hunduras, although they still retain in commerce the name of Guatemalan. They are generally found in small pieces, irregular in form and size, and come in envelopes of skin containing about half as much as the Bengal chests. Putting aside the difference in exterior form, these indigoes approach very closely to those of Bengal. The same qualities are found, only they are more frequently mixed. The clear blue is more rare, and, when it is found, it is poorer in coloring matter. In purchasing these indigoes it is necessary to beware of the reds, which often contain a strong proportion of the brown extractive matter. It is not rare to find among the Guatemalan indigoes beautiful specimens of the blue violet, equal to the richest Bengal variety. Unfortunately, this superior variety is generally mixed with inferior kinds, as to have less value. The American indigoes are classified as follows:—
Guatemala floro.—Bright blue, paste uniform, soft and light. This variety, in Bancroft’s time, was the most esteemed of all indigoes.
Guatemala sobresaliente.—Less light, the paste firmer and the blue less beautiful.
Guatemala corte, or copper-colored.—Paste less firm and heavier, coppery red.