Green’s Dictionary of Slang

carmine n.

blood.

1855		(con. 1809) Fights for the Championship 41: The carmine flowed to any amount.
1857		Bell’s Life in Victoria (Melbourne) 5 Sept. 2/6: [A]nother tremendous counter took place [...] each drawing the carmine.
1864		H.D. Miles Tom Sayers 33: Sayers lef off, caught Nat a heavy cross hit [...] inflicting a deep cut and drawing the carmine.
1867		Birmingham Dly Post 17 Aug. 4/5: His opponent [...] shot out on the mouth and nose, drawing a first instalment of carmine.
1903		Bulletin (Sydney) 23 July 21/4: Those writers seemed to fight very shy of the word ‘blood’; instead, they referred to it as ‘ruby,’ ‘carmine,’ ‘claret,’ ‘supply from the beet-tin,’ ‘cataract from the cavern,’ ‘elixir of life,’ ‘pink,’ ‘cochineal,’ ‘juice,’ ‘crimson,’ ‘vermilion,’ ‘Burgundy,’ and so on.