and Observations on Lac. 
*93 
found the best specimens to be very considerably deprived of 
the colouring matter.* 
3. Lump lac, is formed from seed lac, liquefied by fire, and 
formed into cakes. And, 
4. Shell lac, according to Mr. Kerr and Mr. Saunders, is 
prepared from the cells, liquefied, strained, and formed into thin 
transparent laminas, in the following manner. 
“ Separate the cells from the branches ; break them into small 
“ pieces ; throw them into a tub of water, for one day ; wash 
“ off the red water; dry the cells, and with them fill a cylindri- 
“ cal tube of cotton cloth, two feet long, and one or two inches 
“ in diameter ; tie both ends, and turn the bag above a charcoal 
“ fire ; as the lac liquefies, twist the bag, and, when a sufficient 
“ quantity has transuded the pores of the cloth, lay it upon a 
“ smooth junk of the plantain tree, and with a strip of the plan- 
“ tain leaf draw it into a thin lamella ; take it off while flexible, 
“ for in a minute it will be hard and brittle/’ -f 
The degree of pressure on the plantain tree, regulates (ac- 
cording to Mr. Saunders) the thickness of the shell; and the 
quality of the bag determines its fineness and transparency. 
Assam furnishes the greatest quantity of the whole of the lac 
now in use.J 
Mr. Kerr (speaking of stick lac) observes, that the best lac 
is of a deep red colour ; for, if it is pale and pierced at the top, 
• Mr. Wilkins informs me that the crude lac, as it is taken from the branches 
and twigs of the trees, is usually deprived of its colouring matter by boiling, having 
been previously reduced, by pounding, into small fragments. In Bengal, the silk dyers 
are the people who thus produce what we call the seed lac, which they do for the sake 
of the colour. 
+ Phil. Trans. 1781, p. 378. 
C c 2 
t Phil. Trans. 1789, p. log. 
