COCCID^ — SHIELD-LICE. 263 



Lusitanus to be a kind of ant, and by others a bee, but now 

 ascertained to be a species belonging to the Coccidas — the 

 Coccus ficus or G. lacca. It is collected from various trees 

 in India, where it is found so abundantly, that, were the 

 consumption ten times greater than it is, it could be readily 

 supplied. 



Lac is known in Europe by the different appellations of 

 stick-lac, when in its natural state, adhering to, and often 

 completely surrounding, for five or six inches, the twigs on 

 which it is produced by the insects contained in its cells ; 

 seed-lac, when broken into small pieces, garbled, and the 

 greater part of the coloring matter extracted by water; 

 when it appears in a granulated form; lump-lac, when 

 melted and made into cakes ; and shell-lac, when strained 

 and formed into transparent laminae. 



Lac, in its different forms, is made use of in the manu- 

 facture of varnishes, japanned ware, sealing-wax, beads, 

 rings, arm-bracelets, necklaces, water-proof hats, etc., etc. 

 Mixed with fine sand it forms grindstones; and added to 

 lamp or ivory black, being first dissolved in water with the 

 addition of a little borax, it composes an ink not easily 

 acted upon by dampness or water. It has been applied 

 also to a still more important purpose, originally suggested 

 by Dr. Roxburgh about the year 1790 — that of a substitute 

 for Cochineal in dyeing scarlet.^ From this suggestion, 

 under the direction of Dr. Bancroft, large quantities of a 

 substance termed lac-lake, consisting of the coloring matter 

 of stick-lac precipitated from an alkaline lixivium by alum, 

 were manufactured at Calcutta and sent to England, where 

 at first the consumption was so great, that, according to 

 the statement of Dr. Bancroft, in 1806, and the two follow- 

 ing years, the sales of it at the India House equaled in 

 point of coloring matter half a million of pounds' weight of 

 Cochineal. Soon after this, a new preparation of lac color, 

 under the name of lac-dye, was substituted for the lac-lake, 

 and with such advantage, that in a few months £14,000 

 were saved by the East India Company in the purchase of 

 scarlet cloths dyed with this color and Cochineal conjointly, 

 and without any inferiority in the color obtained.^ 



1 Phil. Trans, for 1791. 



''' Bancroft on Permanent Colors, ii. 1-59. 



