Part III.] E. Benskin and A. Rodger: Note on Thitsi. 
15 
From Laikha some while ago a group of lacquer workers moved off 
to Kengtung where they form a small colony. They have developed an 
industry of their own in the making of basket-shaped bowls ornamented 
either with smooth gilt work, or with work of Mandalay moulded-ware 
type, rather minute in detail, gilt all over, and occasionally ornamented 
with small pieces of coloured glass. 
Although the art of making lacquer ware is not as flourishing as it 
was in the past, it is still the means of livelihood of some thousands of 
villagers, and must be regarded as one of the chief minor handi¬ 
crafts of Burma. Some 7,000 people were engaged in the work in 1901. 
8. Laboratory Experiments. 
Thitsi has recently been the subject of a special enquiry by Mr. 
Puran Singh, Chemical Adviser to the Forest Research Institute, Dehra 
Dun, and is dealt with in Indian Forest Records (1909), Vol. I, Part 
IV, pages 287 to 308. The specific gravity at 20°C. of a pure sample 
was 1*0016, which is practically equal to that of the Japanese lacquer. 
It is of a black colour with a slight, but not unpleasant, smell. 
The chief constituents of the Burmese varnish are urushic acid 
(C u H lg 0 2 ), which by quantitative analysis forms about 85 per cent., 
diastatic matter, gum, and oily matter ; the composition, therefore, of 
thitsi is identical with Japanese lacquer varnish, in all its essential 
characteristics. The chief defect in the Burmese varnish is its incapacity 
for drying ; in order, therefore, to determine the essential conditions 
for drying the varnish, experiments were made with the original juice 
and mixtures of its several constituents, and the following conclusions 
were obtained :— 
(i) That it is the action of the diastatic constituent in the urushic 
acid which causes the hardening of the varnish ; but the diastase 
to display this activity, must be in its original form, as it is 
present in the natural varnish ; coagulation paralyses its action 
on the urushic acid. 
(ii) That moisture is essential in the process of drying. 
(Hi) That the diastatic matter begins to lose its activity between 50° 
and 60° C. and entirely loses its activity between 60° and 65°C. 
(iv) That adulteration with sesamum oil ( Shansi) greatly 
impairs the drying power of the varnish. 
The principles and conditions of the use of Burmese and Japanese 
varnishes being the same, the author (E. Benskin) makes a number of 
[ in i 
