!SS FAMILY HERBAL 



L. 



Gum Lac Tree. Laca arbor. 



A tree of the bigness of our apple tree, fre- 

 quent in the East, but not yet known in Europe. 

 The trunk is covered with a rough reddish bark. 

 The branches are numerous and tough. They have 

 a smoother rind, of a colour inclining to purple. 

 The leaves are broad, and of a whitish green on 

 the upper side, and of a silvery white underneath. 

 The flowers are small and yellow. The fruit is of 

 the bigness of a plum, and has in it a large stone :" 

 The outer or pulpy part is of an austere, and not 

 \nvy agreeable taste. 



The gum lac is found upon the branches of this 

 tree but it i , pretended by some, that a sort of flies ; 

 deposit it there, and on other substances ; and 

 that it is a kind of wax ; however, there are per- 

 sons of credit, who say they have obtained by cut- 

 ting the branches of this tree, and a like substance 

 from the branches of the several kinJs of jujubes, 

 to which this belongs, in the hot countries. Pro- 

 bably the flies get it **u tins tree, and lodge it for 

 their purposes upon sticks, and other substances, as 

 we see it. 



Our druggists have three kinds of this resin, for 

 it is ill called a gum. The one they call stick lac, 

 because it is brought in round sticks ; the other 

 seed lac, in small lumps ; and the other shell lac, 

 which is thin' and transparent, and has been melted ; 

 of this resin tiie scaling wax is made with very little 

 alteration more than the colouring it, which is 

 done by means of a cinnabar or coarser materials. 

 Taken inwardly, gum lac is good against obstruc- 

 tions of the liver: it operates by urine and sweat. 



