The reader who has followed thus far this category of eastern products must be struck by the preponderance in it of costly luxuries over articles of general consumption. The expenses of transportation over great distances and through dangerous districts were, in fact, so great that most of the Eastern wares had necessarily to comprise great value in a small bulk, and sought their market only among the upper classes of Europe, who could afford to pay well to gratify their desires. =92. Dyestuffs; alum.=—Among the raw material brought from the East there was only one important class of wares which served manufacturing industries, the dyestuffs. Indigo (Greek, _Indikon_, Indian) came from the East as its name implies, the chief staple for it being Bagdad. It gives a fast and deep blue and had been imported in Europe even in ancient times; with the revival of commerce after the Crusades it became again an article of commerce, and was used constantly thereafter as a dyestuff, in spite of the attempt to substitute for it the native woad, an herb of the mustard family. Some of the red dyes were produced in Europe, notably madder, mentioned in one of Charlemagne’s laws, and the scarlet or carmine obtained from the kermes insect in Southern France and Spain. Both of these dyes were imported to some extent, however, and another red dye which was an important import was Brazil-wood. The name suggests an American origin, but was given it in fact because its redness made it seem like glowing coals (cf. English brazier), and the South American country received its name later from the tree found growing in it. Brazil-wood was brought to Europe in blocks and was then ground up for use in dyeing and painting. A common yellow dye of the Middle Ages, saffron, was also imported when the best quality was desired, and yellow arsenic (orpiment) was used as a pigment. Lac (shellac) was used for a dye as well as for varnish. More important than any of the separate dyes was alum, which came to be regarded as indispensable for fixing the color when wool or silk had been dyed in the piece. This was procured mainly in Asia Minor, and was one of the most highly prized products of the eastern trade. =93. Other raw materials of industry.=—In comparison with the dyes most other raw materials of industry were unimportant as objects of trade. Cotton (Arabic _kotn_) was imported both in its finished form and as a raw material. The cotton manufacture in Europe had, of course, nothing like its present importance, but it was already well established in Germany, where a staple cloth was made out of a mixture of cotton and flax, and it required more of the raw cotton than the plantations of southern Europe could supply. Small amounts of flax were imported from Egypt, because of the superior quality of the product.