188 UTILIZATION OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 



in water, which effectually removes all the dye. The water is strain- 

 ed and the dye allowed to settle, precipitation being assisted by 

 an admixture of alum or lime. The water is drawn off and the 

 sediment collected, pressed into cakes, and dried in the sun. Cot- 

 ton wool is often saturated with the dye and used by confectioners 

 for colouring swetetmeats, and by women for rouging their hands, 

 feet, and faces. Since the introduction of aniline dyes, the demand 

 for lac dye has become insignificant. 



The resinons portion or real lao (in this condition termed seed lac) 

 is dried and placed in a long bag of fairly close-woven cotton 

 drill. The bag is held by two operators over an open charcoal fire, 

 which melts the lac inside. The men, one at each end, now begin 

 to twist the bag in opposite directions, so that the melted lac is 

 forced through the cloth and drops into a long trough underneath. 

 From this trough, which is hot enough to maintain the lac in a 

 molten condition, a third operator throws a ladleful on to a smooth 

 hollow cylinder of porcelain or metal filled with warm water. 

 Without any delay a fourth operator quickly spreads the lac evenly 

 over the cylinder with an aloe or plantain leaf. The sheet of lac 

 is at once lifted off, and waved about in the air for a moment or 

 two until it is quite crisp. This is the shellac of commerce. The 

 cylinder is kept warm to prevent any portion of the lac adhering 

 to it. In Bengal, the shellac is often solidified on plantain stems. 

 If, instead of using the cylinder, the melted lac is dropped upon a 

 smooth plane and assumes the shape of small ginger nuts, it be- 

 comes button lac, which generally commands higher prices in the 

 London market than shellac. 



ScJdeichera trijuga furnishes the most valuable product, a bright 

 amber-coloured lac. The lac of Butea is reddish. 



The total inland trade in lac in India proper carried by rail and 

 river in 1888-89 was composed as follows : — 



Stick lac, .. 200,000 mannds, worth 36 lakhs of rupees. 

 Shellac, .. 125,000 „ „ 65 „ „ „ 



In India lac is used in the manufacture of bangles, lacquer ware, 

 varnishes, and sealing wax ; in Europe for the preparation of spirit 

 varnishes, cements, lithographic ink, and sealing wax, and for the 

 stiffening of hats. 



Section II. — Silk. 



Perhaps no country in the world is so rich in indigenous silk- 

 producing insects as India, the number of species exceeding thirty. 

 They are divided by F, Moore into — 



I. — The mulberky-fbedinq group, represented by the various 



