LOGWOOD (so called from the form in which it is imported), the
heart-wood of a leguminous tree, _Haematoxylon campechianum_, native of
Central America, and grown also in the West Indian Islands. The tree
attains a height not exceeding 40 ft., and is said to be ready for
felling when about ten years old. The wood, deprived of its bark and the
sap-wood, is sent into the market in the form of large blocks and
billets. It is very hard and dense, and externally has a dark
brownish-red colour; but it is less deeply coloured within. The best
qualities come from Campeachy, but it is obtained there only in small
quantity.
Logwood is used in dyeing (q.v.), in microscopy, in the preparation of
ink, and to a small extent in medicine on account of the tannic acid it
contains, though it has no special medicinal value, being much inferior
to kino and catechu. The wood was introduced into Europe as a dyeing
substance soon after the discovery of America, but from 1581 to 1662 its
use in England was prohibited by legislative enactment on account of the
inferior dyes which at first were produced by its employment.
The colouring principle of logwood exists in the timber in the form of
a glucoside, from which it is liberated as haematoxylin by
fermentation. Haematoxylin, C16H14O6, was isolated by M. E. Chevreul
in 1810. It forms a crystalline hydrate, C16H14O6 + 3H2O, which is a
colourless body very sparingly soluble in cold water, but dissolving
freely in hot water and in alcohol. By exposure to the air, especially
in alkaline solutions, haematoxylin is rapidly oxidized into
haematein, C16H12O6, with the development of a fine purple colour.
This reaction of haematoxylin is exceedingly rapid and delicate,
rendering that body a laboratory test for alkalis. By the action of
hydrogen and sulphurous acid, haematein is easily reduced to
haematoxylin. It is chemically related to brazilin, found in
brazil-wood. Haematoxylin and brazilin, and also their oxidation
products, haematin and brazilin, have been elucidated by W. H. Perkin
and his pupils (see _Jour. Chem. Soc._, 1908, 1909).
LOHARU, a native state of India, in the south-east corner of the Punjab,
between Hissar district and Rajputana. Area, 222 sq. m.; pop. (1901)
15,229; estimated gross revenue, £4800. The chief, whose title is nawab,
is a Mahommedan, of Afghan descent. The nawab Sir Amir-ud-din-Ahmad
Khan, K.C.I.E., who is a member of the viceroy's legislative council,
was until 1905 administrator and adviser of the state of Maler Kotla.
The town of Loharu had a population in 1901 of 2175.
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