Carmine solution is made by dissolving carmine in the necessary quantity of ammonia, adding glycerine equal in quantity to the ammonia, driving off the latter by heat and diluting the liquid. This solution is well adapted for colouring confectionery, but cannot be employed in painting and writing, since the glycerine would prevent it from drying. Carmine is extensively used in painting, and for many purposes cannot be replaced by another pigment, _e.g._, the cosmetic known as vegetable rouge can be made from no other pigment. Carmine may be used in all methods of colouring; it is quite harmless for confectioners’ purposes. =Munich, Vienna, Paris, or Florentine Lake.=—This fine deep red lake differs from carmine in containing a much larger quantity of alumina, thus possessing the character of an ordinary lake. Occasionally carmine lake is intentionally mixed with light white substances, such as magnesia, to obtain paler shades or cheaper pigments. Whilst only the finest varieties of cochineal can be used to make fine carmine, the cheaper sorts can be used for Florentine lake. The cochineal used for carmine is boiled but a short time with water, so that the residue contains considerable quantities of colouring matter, which may amount to half of that originally present. The same materials are used as in the preparation of carmine, and in this case, too, stress should be laid upon their purity. The weight of the alum is usually 10 to 15 times that of the cochineal; a little stannous chloride and cream of tartar are also added to brighten the shade. All these materials are boiled with the cochineal, soda is added to the clear solution until effervescence no longer occurs, the separated lake is then washed. The lake may be made with magnesia instead of alumina, it is added in the form of magnesium sulphate; the more magnesia is used the paler is the lake. The proportions in which the materials are employed vary with each manufacturer. The following quantities have always given the author a favourable result: Cochineal 10 parts, alum 150 parts, water 250 parts; or cochineal 10 parts, magnesium sulphate 5 parts, alum 0·5 part. In making Florentine lake a fairly deep colour should be produced. This may be mixed without difficulty in the wet or the dry state with a white pigment, thus producing any desired shade, even to the most delicate rose-red.