139 
American species were in error. Ellis then states that Father 
D'Incarville had sent seeds of the Chinese varnish tree from 
IVkin, and that the plant, was at that time being grown in the 
Chelsea Physic Garden. 
All the above-mentioned authors follow Kasmpfer in discussing 
an inferior quality of varnish produced in Siam and Cambodia 
which was supposed to be obtained from an Anacardium, "xhv 
Tmj Bah that is tree Bak, the fruit of which is in our shops 
called Ammirdium and in Cambodia known as Ink Rak and tli.' 
varnish as Nam Rak." But it would now appear hi_d,ly likely 
that the plant so indicated was in reality M>;'a ,«,,-, Imra usitafa. 
This opinion at all events seems to have been accepted by 
M. K. Spach (Hist. Nat. des Vend. 1S:U. //., /<• ^-'b "ho <-al > n 
"the Melanorrhoea varnish of Siam." Subsequent authors iden- 
tified the Cambodia Bak of Kcmpfer as being Sew arjms 
Anwardium, but that plant has not. so lar as 1 can disrov, r, Wn 
recorded as met with in Burma nor in Siam, and is not hk.-l\ 
therefore to be prevalent in either country. On the other hand. 
Williams ( i.e.) speaks of the Melunurrhoc t tre • as met with aero., 
Siam from the River Salween to the River M^konir—" the plant 
which in Burma and Siam furnishes the laru'< si quantity <>t 
Mui /vie." There would, thus seem no doubt that (If M'lan ,rrln>eu 
of Wallich was the Anaeardinm and Semerar/ms mentioned by 
the older authors as affording a varnish in Siam and Burma. 
It is known to yield a brown gum and the wood is said to 
contain an acrid juice which causes much irritation to the parts 
of the body exposed to it, hence the wood-cutters object to fell 
the tree. That property is, however, possessed by many others of 
the same family, such as one or two ™ «■ 
more especially HoJigarna Heiferi 
Burma, which has so evil a reputatic 
The juice of Snneearjms. while it has i>e,,u spoKen 01 as u mult a 
n tun! wmi-d Uu > P«n,t > <',,/ v >, <),h <u > I irn * ts, 
l'.MH, ,,. 47D i. so far as India is concerned never appears to be so 
used, though the pericarp affords the well-known marking-ink of 
the Indian laundry-men. 
In the Edinburgh Journal of Science ( T W TV//. 1828) there 
appeared an article on The Viruish and \ urnish Trees of 
itten apparently by the editor-Sir David Brewster He 
ribes a varnish made by Mr. Swinton in Sylhet said to 
« parts of the juice of the Bheta (the 5 
Anacardium— the tree which bears the marking-nuts of India) 
and one part of the juice of the joivar. Articles varnished with 
it at Sylhet are of a most beautiful glossy black, and it seems 
equally tirn-d for varnishing iron, bather. pu P rr, ,ro»d, or stnne 
The varnish in question was doubtless that of the plant here dealt 
with and not a preparation of Semeearpus. 
Sir David then discusses " the Tsi-tsi, or varnish of Rangoon, 
which, he says, is less known than the Sylh van sh. MrMvint i 
considers it to be made from the juice of the Bhala 
pus Anacardium alone." "The varnish from the Afl«eM or 
B may be the same as the Rangoon varnish but it is at 
present considered to be different. The Kheeoo (khiu, as we 
