Name That List, #50

What is this a list of? The answer is below in extended.

  • The rare mineral cuprorivaite
  • Weathered copper-carbonate azurite
  • Blood from the wounds of dragons locked in mortal combat with elephants
  • Resin secreted from trees growing on the islands of Socotra and Sumatra
  • Murex shell from the Eastern Mediterranean
  • The rendered bodies of Egyptian mummies
  • Scale insects that swarm on prickly-pear cacti
  • Unripe buckthorn berries
  • The urine of cattle who have eaten mango leaves














Answer:

They're all ingredients from which color pigments have been made (or have been rumored to have been made).

Source: "Treasures from the Color Archive," The New Yorker.

Thanks to Jenny Beatty for the suggestion!
     Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 02, 2018
     Category: Name That List





Comments
I was sure this list was from an online fantasy game.

agent j
Posted by agent j on 11/02/18 at 09:54 AM
Then they aren't ingredients in the Wizard of Id's potion?
Posted by Virtual on 11/02/18 at 10:41 AM
My guess was things which have been sold as both aphrodisiacs and abortifacients.
Posted by Phideaux on 11/02/18 at 10:56 AM
Dragon blood, Murex and cattle urine give it away for me. The first two I read about years ago and the cattle urine was in a BBC News article last month.
Posted by eddi on 11/02/18 at 10:02 PM
Got it in one.

By the way, the dragons' blood and the Socotra/Sumatra resin are one and the same: the dried sap of Dracaenea trees. As for the prickly pear bugs, cochineal is still used and somewhat infamous.
Posted by Richard Bos on 11/03/18 at 06:01 AM
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