Herculis

[Aquagility]

31a. A violet or red dye used as a source of litmus, obtained from lichen (6), O-C-I-

Could be orcein or orchil. Any views?

[glasman]

Yes, orchil.

[Beatrice35]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/orchil

[Aquagility]

OK, but Orcein is a reddish-brown dye, orchil is a purple-blue dye.. Both are obtained from lichen, and both are sources of, or related to litmus.

[Beatrice35]

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ethnol ichenology

Looking at this the answer looks lilke Orcein- you look at the above link + tell me what you think.
Must have lunch now- hands are shaking with hunger!
Warm wishes, Bea ;-)

[Beatrice35]

Actually, think it is Orchil :-)
Too hungry to think;-). Good luck Aquagility + hope you win something soon as you have helped me out on numerous occassions :-)!
Warm wishes, a very hungry Bea

[Aquagility]

Bea, all I get is this!

Sorry, the page "Ethnol ichenology" does not exist.

[Rollo]

Orchil is a red or violet dye made from various lichens.

That's the definition from Chambers Dictionary.

[Beatrice35]

Sorry aquagillity- it was on absoloute astronomy. Sorry the link did not work. Did try for you.

Wonder if this helps:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchil
Gosh, hope it will all be clear for you soon as want you to have the right answer with a good explanation of why very soon. Rollo is a genius so methinks his words must be right. Warm wishes, Bea :-)

[slaney]

..and orcein is a purple dyestuff obtained from orcinol which is also obtained from lichens - Chambers as well.
I would probably go for orchil, only because when Googled with "litmus" it gets more hits than orcein.

[Aquagility]

Thanks, hungry Bea. And thanks also to glasman, Rollo and slaney.
I flipped a coin, and it came down Orchil.

[seekeerz]

Good move, aq - that's what I put too.

[DrFilth]

orcein

(chemistry) a dye, related to litmus, that is extracted from the lichen Rocella tinctoria; used as a microscopic stain and as a food colouring

orchil (plural orchils)

Any of several lichens, especially those of the genera Roccella and Lecanora.
The dye, orcein, extracted from them.



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