Part I] Lindsay and Harlow : Lac and Shellac log 
deserving of special enquiry. These processes, however, have already 
been made the object of investigation by various firms and 
individuals ; a number of patents for particular methods or apparatus 
have been issued, and work in various directions is still in progress. 
It is probably advisable to leave this section of enquiry to those 
who are already engaged in it, and who have spent no small amount 
of time and money in its pursuit. With a closer linking up of inter¬ 
ests it might at some future time be possible to suggest for the 
common good a somewhat closer co-ordination of these scattered 
efforts, but for the present it seems best to concentrate attention on 
the biological and physiological study of the sources of supply, the 
insect and its food-plant, rather than on the chemistry and techno- 
logy of manufacture. 
If then we assume that research may for the time being be 
practically restricted to the insect and the plant, and that it is to be 
carried out partly in a laboratory run by a Lac Association and 
partly by officers of the Forest Department working in concert with 
the Association, the general arrangement of work might be very 
simple. The Lac Laboratory would undertake all work on the insect, 
the physiology of lac production, and the insect’s enemies and 
parasites. The work undertaken by Forest Officers (excluding that 
of a more immediately practical nature) would include the general 
study of the “ host” plants, but would deal especially with the most 
economical methods of utilizing a given plant as a continued source 
of raw material for lac production. 
Though not closely connected with i( research ”, the question of 
a crop forecast may here be touched on, as it is one of considerable 
importance. The establishment of reliable machinery for such a 
forecast would presumably be correlated with the gradual expansion 
of forest cultivation and with the increase in the number of “ brood- 
farms ”, whose periodical reports would probably afford the safest 
basis for computing the average condition of the crop in their parti¬ 
cular areas, if an arrangement could be come to whereby such 
reports could be furnished for the information of the Association. 
If we may assume effective collaboration between the Forest 
Department and the Association, a definite division of labour be¬ 
tween them in the matter of research will not only economize time 
and effort, but will also avoid competition or controversy. Both 
[*° 9 ] 
