It is doubtful whether another branch of applied chemistry is recorded of so great an age as the colour industry; at the present time there is hardly a race on the face of the earth which does not make use of colours in some form, either for the decoration of their persons or surroundings. The art of preparing colours is as ancient as their use. It is true that we find from the most remote historical records that the so-called earth colours were almost solely employed, and principally those which exist ready formed in nature. But these natural colours also require their particular process of preparation before they fulfil their object, even though this be merely a mechanical operation, such as powdering or levigating. That the oldest nations of whom we possess lasting records, either written or otherwise, really understood the preparation of colours by chemical processes is shown by the common occurrence in the Egyptian mural pictures of figures clad in brightly coloured garments, a proof that the Egyptians not only understood the science of colour manufacturing, but also the more advanced art of fastening colours upon fabrics—dyeing. The writings of the ancient Greeks, and in part also the scanty remains of their buildings, prove to us completely that they understood the use of colours to such an advanced degree that they already employed them for pictures as works of art. That the Greeks were also acquainted with the preparation of colours and dyeing follows from various passages from the classical writers, in which magnificently decorated rooms and beautifully coloured garments are often described. Among the Romans, who were the pupils of the Greeks in the arts and manufactures, the prodigal luxury which existed in Rome, especially under the emperors, caused a great demand for colours, which were used in the most profuse manner for the decoration of house and attire. The Roman colour makers had advanced so far in their art that they could colour the human hair rose-red. A glance at East Indian fabrics and pictures, or at the ancient Chinese buildings, whose colouring is a matter of marvel to-day, shows that the Oriental were not behind the Western nations in the discovery of colours and the art of manufacturing them.