July 22,1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
G1 
NOTES ON SOME EASTERN VARNISH- 
TREES. 
BY JOHN E. JACKSON, A.L.S., 
Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Kew. 
“We sell six sorts of varnish; to wit, the dry var¬ 
nish, which is made of oil of spike, fme turpentine, 
and sandarac melted together. The second is white 
varnish, call’d Venetian varnish, which is oil of tur¬ 
pentine, fine turpentine and mastick melted toge¬ 
ther. The third is spirit varnish, which is compos’d 
of sandarac, white karabe, gum elenic and mastick. 
The fourth is golden varnish, which is of linseed oil, 
sandarac, aloes, gamboge and litharge of gold. The 
fifth is China varnish, which is of gum lac, colo¬ 
phony, mastick in tears and spirit of wine. The 
sixth is common varnish, which is nothing else but 
common turpentine dissolv’d in oil of turpentine, as 
observ’d speaking of turpentine before. There is 
another varnish, some of the religious make; but, 
as we do not deal in it, I shall not trouble my self or 
the reader about it. As to the use of varnish that is 
best ; known to the workmen, whose business it is to 
deal in the several sorts, whereby they understand 
which is the properest for their particular use.” 
So wrote Pomet in his ‘ Compleat History of 
Druggs,’ published in 1725. Since that time, we 
have not only added to the list of compound or ma¬ 
nufactured varnishes, but discovered other natural 
exudations which are generally known as varnishes. 
Two useful Indian varnisli-producing trees are the 
Melanorrlicea usitatissima, Wall., and the Holigarna 
longifolia, Roxb. They both belong to the Natural 
Order Anacardiacece. The former is a large, liard- 
wooded forest-tree, found growing from Tenasserim 
and Pegu to Munnipore. To collect the varnish 
with which the tree abounds holes are made in the 
trunks, and pieces of bamboo, closed at the lower 
ends, inserted. These bamboo pipes are left for a 
day or two to fill. The juice, as it flows from the 
tree, is white, but it becomes black by exposure to 
the air. In order to preserve it for use it has to be 
kept in water. It is very extensively used by the 
natives for varnishing or lacquering all kinds of 
household articles, furniture, etc. The juice of Ho¬ 
ligarna longifolia , which is also a large tree, is like¬ 
wise collected and used as varnish by the natives of 
Malabar. It is very acid, and, like that of Mela- 
norrhcea, will raise blisters or swellings if applied to 
the skin. Another, and certainly the most interest¬ 
ing,'of the Anacardiaceous varnish-producing trees 
is a species of Rhus, a genus of some notoriety, in¬ 
asmuch as some of the American species, as R. vene¬ 
nata and R. Toxicodendron, are reputed to have 
caused such extraordinary effects of poisoning from 
the mere handling of any portion of the plant, that 
they have become almost as familiar as the Upas 
tree of Java. The varnish-producing species to 
which we have alluded is Rhus ver nioifera. It is a 
small tree, native of Japan, and yields, it is said, the 
best varnish or lacquer, in the use of which the 
Japanese are, and have been, so famous. The tree 
is very extensively cultivated in many parts of Japan, 
and yields, besides varnish, a quantity of wax. One 
product, however, suffers at the expense of the other, 
for if the trees are tapped for the sake of the lacquer, 
which is usually done before they come to full ma¬ 
turity,—some have said at the age of three years,— 
and which frequently ends in the death of the tree, 
Third Series, No. 5G. 
no wax can, of course, be obtained. In some dis¬ 
tricts, where a higher value is set upon the wax 
than upon the varnish, the extraction of the latter is 
prohibited. At the time of collecting, the varnish is 
about the thickness of cream, and of a lightish 
colour, changing to black, and becoming thick by 
exposure. It is cleared from impurities by strain¬ 
ing : at one time very fine paper was used for this 
purpose. 
Of the mode of preparing it for use, nothing cer¬ 
tain seems to be known. The old Japanese lacquer 
ware was far superior to that of the present day, and 
it is said that the ancient mode of preparation has 
been lost to the modem Japanese. Some travellers, 
however, tell us that if the varnish is used in its 
pure state it is very clear, and every mark or grain 
of the wood upon which it is laid is distinctly visible 
but the natives frequently mix with it other mate¬ 
rials, such as finely-ground leaf-gold or pulverized 
charcoal, which, of course, renders it opaque, and 
with which they produce various designs. The 
Japanese use it for varnishing many of their articles 
of household furniture. 
Cjfitjjttrs for 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PHARMACOPOEIA* 
BY WILLIAM A. TILDEN, D.SC. LOND. 
DEMONSTRATOR OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
Liquor Calcis. 
[§ 438 grams require for neutralization at least 
20 cub. centims. of the volumetric solution of oxalic 
acid.] 
100 cub. centims. of the volumetric solution are 
neutralized by x \j of half a molecule of lime, or •§§ = 
2’8 grams; therefore in 438 grams there would 
be £ of tliis, or *56 gram of Ca 0. 
Lime water exposed to the air gives a deposit of 
carbonate. Very distinct crystals are sometimes 
produced in this way when, as in an imperfectly- 
stoppered bottle, the carbonic acid gas has been ad¬ 
mitted very gradually. 
Liquor Calcis Chlorate. —For the quantitative 
test, see Calx Chlorata. 
Liquor Calcis Sacchaeatus. 
This solution contains P54 per cent., or almost 
exactly twelve times the amount of lime in ordinary 
lime water. If heated, it deposits a compound of 
lime and sugar, 3 CaO . C 12 H 22 O n , which redissolves 
on cooling. 
Liquor Chlori. 
Chlorine gas is generated by the action of hydro¬ 
chloric acid on black oxide of manganese. 
MnO.O + 2HC1+2HC1 
= MnCl 2 -f Cl 2 + H 2 0 + H 2 0. 
Chloride of manganese remains in the generating 
flask. The chlorine gas is passed first through a 
little water to wash it, and then into the water in 
which it is to be dissolved. The solution is to be 
kept in the dark, since under the influence of light 
clflorine decomposes water, with production of hydro¬ 
chloric acid and evolution of oxygen. 
[§ A yellowish-green liquid, smelling strongly of 
chlorine, and immediately discharging the colour ot 
a dilute solution of sulphate of indigo. Evaporated,. 
