RHUS 



VBRNICIFERA 



JAPANESE LACQUER 



Season. 



Powder 

 Prepared. 



Elm-leaved 



Sumach. 



Dye and Tan. 



Baskets. 



Wild 

 Varnish. 



Exudation 



Wax. 



Galls. 



Japanese 

 Varnish. 



Season. 



Exudation 

 Collected. 



Juice. 



Lacquer. 



August, when the plant is cut down, spread on the field to dry, and the leaves 

 stripped off and conveyed to the mills. Here the leaves are separated from all 

 foreign admixtures and are then ground to powder. This powder is again sub- 

 jected to a purifying process, after which it is ready for exportation and use 

 as a tanning material. The real sumach is locally known as " strong," in con- 

 tradistinction to a similar plant known as " sommacco femminello," the leaves of 

 which are smaller and of less strength than those of the former, in the adultera- 

 tion of which they are largely used. [Cf. Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1902, xxi., 

 1207 ; Priestman, Micro. Exam, of Sumach Adulterants, in Journ. Soc. Chem. 

 Indust., 1905, xxiv., 231-3; Hanausek, Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, 

 transl.), 1907, 300.] 



R. Cotinus, Linn. The Elm-leaved Sumach, tunga, chanidt, ami, pddn, 

 bauru, larga, manu, darengri, erandi, etc. A shrub or small tree of the Suliman 

 Range and Western Himalaya to Kumaon, ascending to 6,000 feet. Throughout 

 the area of its indigenous habitat, leaves, bark and wood are all used in DYKING 

 and TANNING, but whether they could be utilised on a commercial scale for this 

 purpose is doubtful. Gamble states that the WOOD is employed in South Europe 

 for inlaid work and makes pretty carvings, picture-frames, etc. In the Himalaya, 

 baskets are made of the twigs. [Cf. Henry, Econ. Bot. China, 1893, 42 ; Britton 

 and Brown, Illust. Fl. Northern United States and Canada, 1897, ii., 389 ; Hooper, 

 in Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 21 ; Hanausek, I.e. 246-50.] 



R. succedanea, Linn. The Wild Varnish Tree, arkol, lakhar, shash, tatri, 

 raniwalai, serhnyok, dinglcain, arkhar, choklu, hala, etc. The galls are known as 

 kakar-singi (kakar the barking deer and singhi or singi = horns), but the true 

 galls of that name appear to be those of fistndn fc/*iijfc. A small deciduous 

 tree of the Himalaya, from Jhelum to Assam, at 2,000 to 8,000 feet. 



Kaempfer calls this the Wild Varnish Tree, and says that in Japan the stem 

 of this, as well as of a. vemMfeva, is incised and the exudation collected for the 

 manufacture of the varnish used in Japanese lacquer-work. In Japan the 

 fruits are crushed, boiled, mixed with the fruit of another tree (said to be jficiin 

 .iwii(trm-ii), and pressed while hot. A wax is thus produced which is made 

 into candles and sometimes sent to Europe under the name of " Japan Wax." 

 The horn-like galls caused by insects on the branches and young shoots are sold 

 as a substitute for those of Piatacia and are used medicinally. [Cf. Lawrence, 

 Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 76; The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.), 1893-7, 

 25, 98; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 140.] 



R. vernicifera, DC. This is the species which yields the famous Japanese 

 Varnish. It grows all over the main island of Japan, and also in Kinshin and 

 Shikoku, but it is from Tokio northwards that it chiefly flourishes. Efforts have 

 been made to cultivate it in India, but without much success. The trees are 

 propagated either by seed sown in January or February, or by cuttings from the 

 roots of vigorous young plants. The juice, from which the varnish is obtained, 

 is collected by making incisions on the stem, the punctures being repeated 

 every fourth day at successively higher parts. The juice which oozes out is 

 scraped off with a flat iron tool. When the tree has been tapped to its top- 

 most branches, it is felled and cut into lengths, which are tied into faggots 

 and steeped in water for ten to twenty days, after which the bark is pierced 

 and lacquer collected in the same way as from the living stem. The juice 

 thus collected is a tenacious fluid of a grey-brown colour. It is allowed to 

 stand and settle, a skin forms over the surface, the better qualities rise to the top 

 and the impurities sink. By stirring in the open air, the lacquer dries, absorbs 

 oxygen and gains a brilliant black colour. The articles lacquered are invariably 

 of wood. The varnish is spread in coats of increasing fineness, the surface being 

 repeatedly ground down with hard charcoal and polished with the ashes of deer's 

 horn, and relacquered again and again. The pattern, says Dr. Dresser (Edinb. 

 Review), is sketched on fibrous elastic paper, which is warmed and fitted to the 

 surface to be decorated, when the pressure of the hand is enough to transfer the 

 pattern. If the pattern is to be in gold, the outline is then followed by a fine hair 

 pencil dipped in lacquer, which acts as a size. When this has so far dried as to be 

 sticky, gold-dust is shaken on it from a spoon. From Rein's detailed account, 

 it would appear direct painting of the patterns is also practised for the higher 

 class works. [Cf. Rein, Indust. of Japan, 1889, 338-78; Quin, Lacq. Indust, 

 of Japan, in Trop. Agrist., Dec. 1882, ii., 514-7 ; Henry, Econ. Bot. China, 

 41 ; Ernest Hart, Canton Lect., May 27, 1895, in Journ. Soc. Arts, Sept. 13, 1895, 

 875-6 ; Journ. Soc. Arts., Sept. 11, 1896, 808-9 ; Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., ii., 



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