CHIRETTA AND LODH 



TACHARDIA 

 LACCA 



SWERTIA CHIRATA, II.,,,,.: Fl. Br. Ind., iv.. 124; O- DJLP. 



\CEM. The Chiietta, charayatah, chir&d, nila-vtppa, $h\rai-huhchi, v.,pt. f ii. 

 //</./ vim, nelabevu, sekftti./t, , t,-. A Hinall erect herb of the temperate j 



from Kashmir to Bhotau at 4,000 to HMMI f,y* ; also the Chlr 

 mountains between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. 



The dried plant (stems, leaves, flowers, r- has long been 



esteem by the Natives of India. It is possessed of t,., , and ! native 



propert i, < an<l is oflieiual in thoTJrtfwA Phannaeoparia. It IH . ..llwcted when the 



iro fully formed. The plants, pulled up !,. 

 tlaf lumdles with a slip of bumbo f the em,. 



l.e collected in tho Mnruntf district ,.f Nepal, and seems 

 Daooa. Tho bundles nr<- p.icU.-d in hales, each rontainmt; al. 

 exported to Calcutta, then,',, distributed all <>\cr India and to the rest ol 



world. In [ndia the true drug is said to be i confused with the < 



( i JM/I >/<-"f'"" i><i nirnioi,, . M'i'.s), and in some loeulitio* another species, > 



,/i<s7i//..i, very inferior to tho genuine article in [terties. Is 



used as a substitute. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., .Ml 5; \V,u: 



/>,'/.. 1897, 45-6: Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 200-1 ; \\ i ' .mphrey. 



rtiiirmacop., 1904, 127; Burkill, in Journ. At. Soe. Etna., J906, i 



:u;;{ si.] 



SYMPLOCOS RACEMOSA, i;,,.,-i,. : Fl. Br., Ind., iii., 576; D.B.P., 



Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 465-6 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, i., 655 ; 

 STYRACE^:. The Lode or Lodh Tree, lodh, khoidai, singen, kaviang, bhom 

 reti, lapongdong, chamlani, palyok, hura, ludduga, mdryjana, etc. A small 

 tree of the " Sub-Himalayan tract from Kumaon to Assam, up to 2,500 

 feet or even higher ; open and dry forests of Burma up to 3,000 

 including the Shan hills ; Andaman Islands ; Chota Nagpur, common " 

 (Gamble). 



The bark and leaves are used in DYEING. By itself the bark yields a yellow 

 DYE obtained by simple steeping in hot water. It is, however, rarely empl> 

 that way. but more generally as a mordant with other dyes, such as ul (.riH* 

 ti,i<-f<u in , p. 783), bac or bakam (Ca-miiittuin ><><>/>. p. 195), and paras (B*tm 

 />'(ff>, p. 189). The bark is also largely utilised in Hindu MKI>I> INK. The 

 WOOD is durable if properly seasoned, though apt to warp and split. [Cf. The 

 Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.), 1893-7. 23, 117; Monograph*, Dyes and 

 Dyeing : Duncan, Assam, 1896, 60; Hadi, U. Prov., 1896, 82; Russell. C. Prov., 

 1896, 18; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 189; Walton. Tanning and Working 

 in Leather, U. Prov., 1903, 25.] 



Uy*. 



Wood. 



TACHARDIA (CERTERIA) LACCA, K< /*. an insect be- D.B.I 

 1 uiuing to the COCCIDJS. Green, CoccidcB of Ceylon, 3; also Ind. Mtu. *'' 

 Notes, 1903, v., 99 ; O'Conor, Lac Prod., Manuf. and Trade, 1876 ; Watt, 

 Agri. T^edg., 1901, No. 9, 181-347; Pharm. Journ., Nov. 1905; Tschirch, 

 Die Harze und die HarzbehdUer, 1906, ii., 812-30. Lac (Dye and Resin). 

 lakh, Idk, gdld, arakku, ambalu, khejijk, etc. Ldkshd or rdkshd and alakta 

 (= washed lac), the Sanskrit names, are apparently the source of most of 

 the vernacular names for both the insect and its products. Thus stick- 

 lac is kham-ldkh ; seed-lac, ddnd-lakh ; shell-lac (or shellac), chapra-ldkh, 

 and lac-dye, kirmai. 



History. There can be no doubt as to the lac insect and its name being endemic History. 

 in India. The insect is even to-day practically confined to India. Hut t ho word 

 lukshd in the Atharvaveda seems to denote Btrm fr*nHm* (p. 189), a tree upon 

 which it is not uncommon to find the lac insect, and which l>v the more recent 

 Sanskrit writers has come to be described as the ldk*hd-tar ree. The 



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