184 Analysis of the Chinese Varnish. [Mat,. 



Siam,— of a moderate height, its branches rise vertically and are furnished with 

 pennated leaves, consisting of five pair of folioles entire, placed along a common 

 petiole, terminated by a single one; the flowers are disposed on the summits of the 

 branches, where they form panniculee. To obtain the varnish, the bark is pierced, 

 and a thick resinous juice exudes from the wound : it is either used pure, or mixed 

 with different coloring substances. It is employed in India as a medicine, afte r 

 boiling to deprive it of a very acrid volatile principle. 



The Cochin-Chinese medical men administer the resin in pills, as heating, 

 resolutive, emmenagogue and vermifuge. Upon this description, M. de Jussieu 

 classed the genus Augla among the Guttiferce, but Professor De Candolle remark- 

 ed, thatof that family there was not a single species with pennated leaves. The last 

 character classes it naturally with the Terebinthacece , to which the chemical 

 qualities of its juice also assimilate it; but according to M. de Candolle, the 

 Terebinthacece never have the petals and stamina inserted in the receptacle- 

 Mr. Lamarck refers the varnish tree or Tsi-chu to the Badamier, Terminatia 

 vernix, of the family of Myrobalans ; its leaves oblong, linear and smooth, 

 deprived of hair, distinguish it from the other Badamiers. It grows in China and 

 the Moluccas, it contains in every part a milky juice, of so caustic a nature as to 

 render its exhalations dangei'ous, and contact with the plant more so. When 

 the trunk is of sufficient size, this juice exudes spontaneously, or through artificial 

 fissures ; it thickens and becomes brown and altogether black, when it has acquir- 

 ed its utmost consistence. While yet liquid, the natives apply it to the articles 

 known in Europe, as " lacquered ware." The caustic principle volatilizes 

 while the varnish is drying ; so that the vessels coated with it may be used for 

 drinking with impunity. The seeds are even eaten, when roasted. 



This description will not apply to the Chinese varnish, since this latter sub- 

 stance does not blacken in the air, and it is probable, that M. de Lamarck may 

 have confounded it with the varnish of Japan, which is produced (according to- 

 Adamson) from a species of the Sumach tree, Rhus vernix. " This tree," says 

 the naturalist, " is poisonous, and produces on the skin, as does the R. Toxycoden- 

 dron, effects analogous to the symptoms of eresypelas. A white viscous liquor 

 runs down from incisions made in the tree, which is caught in wooden baskets, 

 and blackens in the air. It may be preserved in vessels covered over with an 

 oiled skin, but it is far from equalling the varnish of China*. 



M. Perrotet, returning from a voyage round the world, in 1823, sent a speci- 

 men of the Chinese varnish to Professor de Candolle, who kindly favored me 

 with a portion for chemical examination. 



The Chinese varnish is of a yellow colour, slightly brown, of a peculiar 

 aromatic smell, of a strong taste, slightly astringent, affecting the back of the 

 mouth, persistent ; nearly resembling that of the balsam of Mecca or Copahu : 



* Dr. Wallich has raised the Burmese varnish tree into a new genus, Melanor- 

 rhasa, and has pointed out the distinguishing characters of the several trees yield- 

 ing varnish, (Planta rariores 12.) The coincidence of the Chinese, Japanese, and 

 Burmese names t,hi-tsi need be no criterion of their identity, since the words 

 merely signify varnish-tree, and would be applied to all that yield varnish. The 

 resemblance between the Angia of Loureiro, the Rhus Vernicifera and the Mela- 

 norrhoea, are striking ; it can hardly be said that the Burmese varnish turns black, 

 it only appears so when very thick. — Ed. 



