USES OF LAC. 137 



our sealing wax. The box, cabinet, or other article 

 about to be varnished, is made hot by a charcoal 

 fire, and then rubbed over with a stick of lac, the 

 surface being afterwards smoothed with a piece of 

 folded plantain leaf to make it equal. A similar 

 varnish is often used on images and ornamental 

 figures. The religious houses of the Indians are 

 often adorned with very thin beaten lead, coloured 

 with various varnishes made from lac. The leaf 

 of lead is laid upon a smooth heated iron while the 

 varnish is being applied. 



Lac is also extensively used as a dye. By 

 pouring warm water on stick lac, a crimson solu- 

 tion is obtained, which is the source of much of 

 the value attached to lac. This colouring matter 

 is extracted in various ways, and made into small 

 square cakes for sale ; these go by the names of 

 lac dye, lac lake, or cake lake. When broken, the 

 cakes are dark coloured, shining, smooth and com- 

 pact, and when scraped or powdered they present 

 a bright red colour approaching carmine. The 

 native mode of dyeing with this substance is 

 described as follows. They take one gallon of the 



