There was malachite green, and red; the intense red known as worm scarlet-tola'at shani in Hebrew-extracted from tree-dwelling insects, crushed up and boiled in lye. Later, when alchemists learned how to make a similar red from sulfur and mercury, they still named the color "little worm"-vermiculum. Some things don't change: we call it vermilion even today.
( Geraldine Brooks )
[ People of the Book ]
www.QuoteSweet.com