1890.] MICROSCOriCAL JOURNAL. 109" 



lect the microscopist of one idea so accurately portrayed by Holmes as 

 the Scarabee, in the "■ Poet at the Breakfast Table." His one object in 

 life is to prove that a parasite of the bee, the pedicidus mclittiC is the 

 larva of mehv. Let me quote the ^^assage in which he sums up his am- 

 bition : " ' The question is whether he is the larva oi mehv^^ the Scara- 

 bee said. * * * • If I live a few years longer it shall be settled, sir ; 

 and if my epitaph can say honestly that I settled it, I shall be willing to 

 trust my posthumous fame to that achievement.' " 



But 1 know that your main interest is in the displav below stairs, and 

 I will not detain you longer. My aim has been to endeavor to show 

 you — 



First. That the microscope is essentially a practical instrument, more 

 practical in fact than any other piece of optical apparatus. 



Second. That very expensive instruments and accessories are not 

 absolutely necessary. 



Third. That as a source of entertainment and pleasure this instru- 

 ment lias no rival, and — 



Fourth. I'hat there are abundant opportunities for the worker in all 

 departments of science. 



If these brief remarks shall be the means of turning the attention of 

 any one here to-night toward the instrument, the use of which is the 

 common bond of union of this Society, I shall esteem myself, indeed, 

 fortunate. 



Japanese Lacquer.* 



By ROMYN HITCHCOCK, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Japanese lacquer is the product of a tree {R/ius vcrnicifcra) wiiich 

 grows throughout the main island of Japan. It attains a large size 

 and will live for forty years, ])ut only comparatively young trees are 

 valued for the production of lacquer. Having yielded for several years, 

 they are cut down, the lacquer extracted from their branches, and young- 

 trees take their places. The best lacquer comes from Yoshino, in 

 Yamato. The lacquer exudes from horizontal cuts in the Vjark, in the 

 form of a rather viscid emulsion, and may be collected from April to 

 October. In the spring it will be more watery than in the later 

 months. It exudes slowly, and is collected by means of a pointed, 

 spoon-like instrument, and transferred to a wooden receptacle or tube 

 of bamboo. Several cuts are made in each tree, the last as high as a 

 man can reach. Having thus prepared a dozen or more trees in rapid 

 succession, the collector begins to collect the juice from the cuts in 

 regular order, beginning with the one first cut. Having finished the 

 collecting, he takes other groups of trees, and after about four days 

 returns to the first, where, after removing the acciuiiulated yield, he 

 cuts again into the same trees, and repeats the same process fifteen or 

 twenty times. Thus the work may go on for eighty to a hundred days. 



As the sap first exudes, it is a grayish-white, thick, or viscous fluid, 

 which quickly turns yellow, and afterwards black, where it is in con- 

 tact with the air. The sap thus collected is ki urushi ; urushi being 



* Read at a meeting of the Washington Chemical Society. 



