CHAPTER VII. 



MANUFACTURE OP GUM LAC BY THE LAC INSECT. 



ANOTHER insect of the same family as the cochi- 

 neal, prepares a substance called gum lac, which 

 is used as a dye, and also as a varnish. This is 

 the lac insect, (coccus lacca,) found on several 

 kinds of trees in the East Indies, especially in the 

 uncultivated mountains on both sides the Ganges, 

 where it is produced in such abundance, that were 

 the consumption ten times greater than it is, the 

 markets might be readily supplied. So great is 

 the accumulation of these insects on the trees 

 which they frequent, that the branches appear as 

 if covered with red dust, and their sap is so much 

 exhausted, that they wither and produce no fruit : 

 the leaves also drop off, or turn to a blackish hue. 



