iS7 
THE INDIAN FOREST RECORDS. 
Vol. 1] 1908 [Part IV 
A Chemical Investigation of the 
Constituents of Burmese Varnish 
* (Melanorrhoea Usitata Sap.) * 
By PURAN SING, F.C.S., ETC. 
Acting Imperial Forest Chemist 
T he vai'uish used in the well-known Burmese lacquering art is 
derived from Melanorrhoea Usitata (Burmese, thitsi, a large 
deciduous tree occurring abundantly in Burma and Siam. The tree 
belongs to the order of Anacardiacese and is closely allied to the 
well-known lacquer tree of Japan, Rhus xernicifera (Japanese. 
Urushi-noki), which is a member of the same natural order. It is 
very abundant in the Eng {Dipterocarpus tuherculatus) forests of 
Pegu and Tenasserim. It does not attain the same size as the Eng, 
and when the trees are in foliage, it can be easily identified by its 
leaves, which resemble those of Semicarpus Anacardium, but are 
different in shape from those of the Eng or other species found 
along with it in the forest, and moreover are somewhat darker in 
colour. Besides the varnish, the timber yielded by the tree is very 
valuable and is used for making furniture, gun-stocks, tool-handles, 
etc. 
The sap extracted from the bark of the tree constitutes the raw 
varnish. It is obtained by making two slanting slits through the 
bark with a peculiarly shaped iron chisel, thus slightly raising and 
detaching from the inner bark a triangular piece of the outer bark 
with its apex towards the bottom of the tree. The sap, which issues 
B 
