SUMACH. 



357 



boiled together, afford a black ink-like tincture. This 

 Sumach was cultivated here in 1726. 



In the same year Mr. Catesby brought from South 

 Carohna the Carolina Sumach, Rhus elegans, of which 

 the blossoms are very numerous, and of a bright red 

 colour; they begin to blow in July, and continue till 

 autumn. The leaves of this species are not pinnate, but 

 are cut into irregular lobes. 



Some of the Sum.achs are of a poisonous nature, par- 

 ticularly the Rooting Sumach, or Poison Oak, Rhus 

 radicans, and the Varnish Sumach, Rhus vernir, called 

 also the Swamp Sumach, Poison-wood, Poison-tree, or 

 Poison Ash. The latter grows in North America, and 

 in Japan; it was cultivated here in 1713. The whole 

 shrub is a violent poison, and the poison is communicated 

 by touching or smelling to any part of it. It acts dif- 

 ferently upon different persons ; indeed some few are not 

 affected by it at all : those who are of an irritable habit, 

 are the most liable to injury from it. It is said that a 

 swarm of bees alighting upon the branches of this Su- 

 mach, were destroyed by the effluvia. 



It contains a yellow juice between the wood and bark, 

 which stains hnens a dark brown. 



Thunberg affirms that the very best Japan varnish is 

 prepared from the Rhus vernlx, which grows in great 

 abundance in that country, and is also frequently culti- 

 vated for the great profit arising from it. This varnish, 

 which oozes out of the stem when wounded, is obtained 

 from trees of three years old ; when it first flows, it is of 

 a lightish colour, and of the consistence of cream, but 

 thickens and blackens on exposure to the air. With 

 this varnish the Japanese cover the posts of their doors 

 and windows, their drawers, chests, cabinets, scimitars. 



