60 
Indian ForeH Records. 
[VoL. I. 
a continuous oozing from the portion exposed to the fire. Every now 
and then one end of the bag is given a reverse twist which causes the por- 
tion from which the lac has been squeezed out to coil up like a rope. 
The bag is drawn steadily forward as portion after portion is exhausted 
until all has been emptied. The lac drips from the bag to the floor be- 
neath the fire. Portions not sufficiently melted are scraped up and re- 
melted. The melted lac now requires to be stretched into thin sheets 
and this is done by stretching it out whilst still molten. This operation 
is carried out in various ways dependent on the degree of up-to-datedness 
employed in the preparation of the shellac. The thin sheets are then 
examined for impurities and all dark coloured or dirt-impregnated por- 
tions are broken out and the rest separated according to purity and shade 
of colour. 
The various qualities of shellac are known to the trade as ‘ Fine Orange 
D. C.,’ ‘ Livery,’ ‘ Native Leaf,’ etc . 
No portion of the lac is regarded as useless. The parings and frag- 
ments of every stage in the manufacture of shellac are thrown back on to 
the floor of the melting furnace and again melted and made into fresh 
sheets. All portions found imsuited for the manufacture of shellac are 
used in other industries. For instance, certain qualities squeezed from the 
melting bags are dropped on to smoother surfaces and dried in circular 
masses an inch and a half in diameter and form the ‘ button-lac ’ of 
commerce. Only the finer qualities of seed-lac are made into shellac 
on account of their paler colour. The more highly coloured lacs are 
made into thick dark-red sheets, Imown as ‘garnet-lac.’ 
After the melting has been completed the bags are boiled in order to 
remove the residuary matter which is known as Kiri or Phog. From this 
two quaUties of inferior lac are made. These two substances are formed 
into thick circular slabs, about six inches in diameter and an inch in 
thickness. In this form they are sold to the makers of seahng-wax, 
bangles, and other similar articles. 
t When steam power is made use of the processes of preparation differ 
mainly from the native factory ones in rapidity and mangnitude of pro- 
duction. 
CHAPTER XI. 
STEPS NECESSARY TO IMPROVE THE CULTIVATION 
OF LAC. 
There can be little doubt that improvements are possible in the pre- 
sent methods of lac cultivation. Those initiated some years ago in the 
