No. 12,— 1860»1.] BADULLA AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



403 



The difficulty of obtaining large quantities has arisen 

 from the difficulty of securing the services of the Sinhalese 

 to collect it. 



The trqe is found at Aiigoda, near Badulla, Teldeniya 

 and Mlgalla or the Park. 



Black Varnish is produced from a species of Semicarpus, 

 This gum resin is equal to the black varnish of China for 

 the purpose of lacquering. It exudes spontaneously from 

 the stem and branches, and may also be obtained by 

 making incisions in the bark. The resin is hard, breaks 

 with a smooth shining fracture, burns with a bright flame, 

 melts in fire, is soluble in turpentine, insoluble in water, 

 and adheres strongly to wood and metal. The fresh juice 

 is very acrid, inflaming the skin, and producing pustules. 



To a saturated solution of Vateria resin (II al-dummala 

 of the Sinhalese) in oil of Turpentine, add by degrees 

 small pieces of the black resin ; put it into a bottle and 

 shake it well until the whole is dissolved. Strain, and 

 then apply it to wood or metal. 



It belongs to the same natural family of plants as the 

 Varnish tree of China and Japan, and possesses the same 

 acrid properties when applied to the skin in a fresh state, 

 as it exudes from the bark. 



The resin exudes from natural fissures of the bark, 

 and at first white, becomes afterwards black by exposure 

 to the sun, hardening into masses of different sizes. The 

 juice also drops on the ground around the tree forming 

 flattened pieces of resin. My attention was drawn to this 

 tree while stationed in Badulla in 1852. A soldier was 

 cutting firewood in the neighbourhood of Badulla, jnid 

 among other trees he felled the Badulla-gaha tree. The 

 juice spurted out at each cut of the axe on his fore-arm ; 

 he returned home and washed himself ; the next day he 

 felt an itching in the arm, in the evening it was swollen 

 red and painful ; next morning he was unable to wear 



