170 Some Account of the Lacquered [May, 



The Burmese workmen declare, that the varnish will not ait, sleep 

 or lie, or dry well, if collected from the tree when it is in fructification ; 

 which, they say, occurs during the three months of January, Feb- 

 ruary, and March. Nor will the lacquered ware, during the process 

 of manufacture, become soon and properly m«, or hard, in the dry hot 

 months before the rains set in, or at any time so well, as when it is 

 lodged, as Dr. Wallich understood, a in dark and cool subterrane- 

 ous vaults." The varnish is placed in the sun for a few minute9 

 before it is used, and being almost always applied with the hand, the 

 smallest grain of sand or other extraneous substance is immediately 

 detected and removed. "When first applied, it looks of a light-brown 

 colour, but as the hand is rubbing on the varnish, it becomes darker, 

 until it attains a beautiful black colour. Sometimes, when the frame 

 work is of wood, a piece of tow is used for rubbing the theet-tsee on, 

 and generally, to save the hand, the first coat is applied with a rude 

 brush made of the husk of the cocoa-nut. After using the varnish, 

 the hand is cleaned with a little mustard-seed oil, and coarse cloth or 

 tow. Upon asking the workmen if they do not suffer any bad effects 

 from the varnish, as I recollect reading of some one at Edinburgh having 

 suffered severely, they admitted that they often, and particularly 

 when they first begin to work in it, find their hands blister and their 

 arms and faces swell, but that some people are much more pre-dis- 

 posed to suffer in this manner than others. Hence, they have a kind 

 of proverb, theet-tsee thek-se thee u varnish is a witness ;" loo-ma- 

 then phyet-thee^ " it affects a man not true ;" loo-then atwama-shee, 

 a to a true man it matters not." About one in a hundred is said to be so 

 predisposed. Some of the workmen told me, that they always use 

 their left hands in taking their food, and that sometimes the delete- 

 rious effects of the varnish appear in blotches so much resembling 

 leprosy, that other Burmese refuse to hold intercourse with workmen 

 6o affected. These effects however are removed by applying to the 

 affected parts a lotion made of teak-wood rubbed on a stone 

 with a little water. Sometimes sandal-wood as well as teak is 

 used, but the latter is considered as the real specific. As a pre- 

 ventative, many workmen occasionally swallow a small quantity of the 

 varnish. 



The theet-tsee itself forms a beautiful black colour, but to improve 

 its brilliancy and transparency, the article covered with it is often 

 polished in the same manner as the Burmese polish the fine marble, 

 with petrified wood powdered very fine, repeatedly washed, and then 

 dried ; and for this purpose, the petrified wood of a particular tree 



