36 
LAC. 
The work is now complete, and the pigmented lac forms a dense 
waterproof covering, which can be affected only by heat or alcohol. 
The natural crimson pigment of the lac insect—from which a 
separate dye is manufactured in India, and which gives its name to the 
artist’s colour “ crimson lake ”—does not appear to be utilized in any 
way in Ceylon. It is noticeable that a certain proportion of the 
insects—even in a single colony—are of a gamboge-yellow instead of 
crimson colour, and yield correspondingly a yellow pigment. 
The second class of lacwork is known as “ niya-pothen ” (finger¬ 
nail) work. The principal examples of this work are coloured 
walking-sticks and native ceremonial staffs. The headquarters of 
this branch of the industry is at a village named Hapuwida, in South 
Matale. It is confined to about five families. The name of this class 
of work is derived from the fact that the pattern is manipulated 
chiefly by the finger (or thumb) nail of the operator. 
The lac employed is that from Tachardia albizziœ, and is here called 
“ Keppitiya laccada,” being collected principally from the “ Kep- 
pitiya” tree (Croton aromaticus var. lacciferus). The insect occurs 
on a number of other trees, but the lacworkers state that the lac 
grown on the croton is of a superior quality, and that lac from other 
trees is darker and more opaque. 
The preparation of the lac is, in most particulars, similar to that 
employed by the Tangalla workers. The crushed lac is enclosed in 
narrow bolster-shaped bags of thin cloth. It is heated over a charcoal 
fire, and the bag twisted until the melted lac oozes through the cloth. 
This melted lac is then scraped off with the back of a knife, and is 
drawn in the manner already described. Vermillion (“ Sodilingam ”) 
is the base of the red pigment. Dhobies’ blue (“Nilu ”) is employed 
for the blue tints. Orpiment (or Sulphide of Arsenic), locally known 
as “ Hirial,” forms the yellow and buff colours. Black is produced by 
burning rags soaked in oil, and catching the soot on the bottom of an 
earthenware chatty. The greens are compounded from the blue and 
yellow pigments. 
The pigment is mixed into the drawn lac by softening the latter and 
pounding the coloured powders into it. This mixing is done by 
repeated blows with a blunt knife, which drives the colouring matter 
into the lac, the compound being kneaded and folded again and again 
during the process. 
From the nature of the appliances, this form of lacwork seems to 
be principally confined to the ornamentation of wooden sticks, or of 
such pieces of furniture and other articles as are composed of rod-like 
pieces of wood joined together. It will be convenient to follow the 
process in its simplest form, namely, in the decoration of a walking- 
stick. 
The wood, having been fashioned into the requisite form and 
carefully smoothed, is first coated with the ground colour (usually red). 
