Dyes were in use before recorded history. Indigo, a pigment extracted from a plant, was used to dye burial cloths for Egyptian mummies over 4,000 years ago. Indigo is used today to dye blue jeans. Tyrian purple was derived from Mediterranean mollusks. Approximately 9,000 mollusks were needed to give one gram of the dye.
American Indians used cochineal, a scarlet dye extracted from the dried bodies of insects, to color their baskets and clothing. The red dye alizarin, extracted from madder root, was known to the ancient Egyptians and Persians. Alizarin was used to dye the red coats of British soldiers in the American Revolution, the red caps and trousers of French soldiers in the French Revolution, and the violins of Antonio Stradivari. Structures for these dyes are shown in Figure 1.