LAC. 
26 
lac, which is the former broken into fmall pieces, garbled, 
and appearing in a granulated form** 3. Lump-lac, which 
is feed-lac liquefied by fire, and formed into cakes. 4. 
Shell-lac is the purified lac, or the cells liquefied, drained, 
and formed into their tranfparent laminae. Lac is brought 
into this date, or purified, by the following procefs. It 
is broken into fmall pieces, and picked from the branches 
and dicks, and then put into a fort of canvas bag of about 
four feet long, and about fix inches in circumference. 
Two of thefe bags are in condant life, and each of them 
held by two men. The bag is placed overafire, and fre¬ 
quently turned till the lac is liquid enough to pafs through 
its pores, when it is taken off the lire, and fqueezed by 
two men in different direftions, dragging it along the 
convex part of a plantain-tree prepared for the purpofe 5 
■while this is doing, the other bag is heating, to be treated 
in the fame manner. The mucilaginous and fmooth fur- 
face of the plantain-tree feems peculiarly well adapted for 
preventing the adhefion of the heated lac, and giving it 
the form which enhances its value fo much. The degree 
of preflure on the plantain-tree regulates the thicknefs of 
the lliell, and the quality of the bag determines its fine- 
nefs and tranfparency, upon which its value depends. 
The lac is applied to various purpofes by the natives in 
India. A great quantity of the Ihell-lac is confumed in 
making ornamental rings, painted and gilded in a variety 
of taltes, to decorate the arms of the ladies; and it is 
formed into beads, fpiral and linked chains for necklaces, 
and other female ornaments. It is alfo ufed for fealing- 
wax. For this purpofe, take a ftick, and heat one end of 
it upon a charcoal fire; put.upon it a few leaves of the 
Ihell-lac foftened above the fire; keep alternately heating 
and adding more fhell-lac, until you obtain amafs of three 
or four pounds of liquefied fhell-lac upon the end of 
5 mur Hick. Knead this upon a wetted board, with three 
ounces of levigated cinnabar, and form it into cylindrical 
pieces; and to give them a polifh, rub them while hot 
with a cotton cloth. 
For japanning, take a lump of fhell-lac, prepared in the 
manner of fealing-wax, with whatever colour you pleafe, 
fix it upon the end of a ftick, heat the polifhed wood 
over a charcoal fire, and rub it over with the half-melted 
lac, and poliffi by rubbing it even with a piece of folded 
plantain-leaf held in the hand ; heating the lacquer, and 
adding more lac as occafion requires. Their figures are 
formed by lac, charged with various colours, in the fame 
manner. In ornamenting their images and religious houfes, 
See. they make ufe of very thin beaten lead, which they co¬ 
ver with various varnifhes, made of the lac charged with co¬ 
lours. The preparation of them is kept a fecret. The 
Sear of lead is laid upon a fmooth iron heated by fire be¬ 
low, while they fpread the varnifh upon it. See Japanning. 
For grindftones, take of river-fand three parts, of feed- 
lac waffled one part, mix them over the fire in a pot, and 
form the mafs into the fhape of a grindftone, having a 
fquare hole in the centre ; fix it on an axis with liquefied 
lac, heat the ftone moderately, and by turning the axis it 
may be eafily formed into an exaft orbicular fhape. Po- 
lilhing grindftones are made only of fuch fand as will pafs 
eafily through fine muffin, in the proportion of two parts 
of fand to one of lac. The fand is compofed of fmall 
angular cryftallir.e particles, tinged red with iron, two 
parts to one of black magnetic fand. The ftone-cutters, 
inftead of fand, ufe the powder of a very hard granate, 
called corunde. Thefe grindftones cut very faft; when 
they want to increafe their power, they throw fand upon 
them, or let them occafionally touch the edge of a vitri¬ 
fied brick. The fame compofition is formed upon fticks; 
for cutting ftones, fliells, &c. by the hand. 
For painting, take one gallon of the red liquid from 
the firft working for fhell-lac, ftrain it through a cloth, 
and let it boil for a ftiort time, then add half an ounce of 
foflil alkali; boil an hour more, and add three ounces of 
powdered load (bark of a tree) ; boil a fhort time, let it 
Land all night, and ftrain next day. Evaporate three 
quarts of milk, without cream, to two quarts, upon a 
flow fire ; curdle it with fome milk, and let it (land for a 
day or two ; then mix it with the red liquid above-men¬ 
tioned ; ftrain them through a cloth, add to the mix¬ 
ture i£oz. of alum, and the juice of eight or ten le¬ 
mons ; mix the whole, and throw it into a cloth-bag 
ftrainer. The blood of the infedt forms a coagulum with 
the cafeous part of the milk, and remains in the bag, while 
a limpid acid water drains from it. The coagulum is 
dried in the ftiade, and is ufed as a red colour in painting 
and colouring. 
For dyeing, take one gallon of the red liquid prepared 
as before without milk, to which add three ounces of 
alum. Boil three or four ounces of tamarinds in a gal¬ 
lon of water, and ftrain the liquor. Mix equal parts of 
the red liquid-and tamarind-water over a brifk fire. In 
this mixture dip and wring the filk alternately, until it 
has received a proper quantity of the dye. To increaf© 
the colour, increafe the proportion of the red liquid, and 
let the filk boil a few minutes in the mixture. To make 
the filk hold the colour, they boil a handful of the bark, 
called load in water; ftrain the decoction, and add cold 
water to it; dip the dried filk into this liquor feveral times, 
and then dry it. Cotton cloths are dyed in this manner; 
but the dye is not fo lading as in filk. The iac-colour is 
preferved by the natives upon flakes of cotton dipped re¬ 
peatedly into a ftrong folution of the lac-infeft in water, 
and then dried. The Hindoos, as Mr. Charles Wilkins 
informed Mr. Hatchett, diffolve fliell-lac in water, by the 
mere addition of a little borax; and the folution, being 
then mixed with ivory-black, or lamp-black, is employed 
by them as an ink, which, when dry, is not eafily aided 
upon by damp or water. Mr. Hatchett found this fad to 
be exactly as it was ftated by Mr. Wilkins. 
Befides the above-mentioned, there is another fort, which 
is white or yellowifh, brought from Madagafcar, very 
much refembling the pe-la of the Chinefe which has bees 
lately examined by Dr. Pearfon. See Laccic Acid. 
The colour given by lac is lefs beautiful, but more du¬ 
rable, than that given by cochineal. To render the co¬ 
louring matter of the lac diffufible in water, fo as to be 
applied to the fluffs to be dyed, Mr. Hellot direds the 
following procefs: Let fome powdered gum-lac be di- 
gefted for two hours in a decottion of comfrey-root, by 
which a fine crimfon colour is given to the water, and the 
gum is rendered pale or ftraw-coloured. To this tindure, 
poured off clear, let a folution of alum be added; and, 
when the colouring matter has fubfided, let it befeparated 
from the clear liquor, and dried. It will weigh about 
one-fifth of the quantity of lac employed. This dried fe- 
cula is to be diffolved or diffufed in warm water, and fome 
folution of tin is to be added to it, by which it acquires 
a vivid fcarlet colour. This liquor is to be added toafb- 
lution of tartar in boiling water; and thus the dye is pre¬ 
pared. 
The method of obtaining the fine red-lac ufed by pain¬ 
ters from this fubftance, is by the following Ample pro¬ 
cefs : Boil the ftick-lac in water, filtre the decoftion, and 
evaporate the clear liquor to a drynel’s over a gentle fire. 
The occafion of this eafy feparation is, that the beautiful 
red colour, here feparated, adheres only flightly to the 
outfides of the fticks broken off the trees along with the 
gum-lac, and readily communicates itfelfto boiling water. 
Some of this fticking-matter alfo adhering to the gum it- 
felf, it is proper to boil the whole together; for the gum 
does not at all prejudice the colour, nor diffolve in boil¬ 
ing water; fo that after this operation the gum is as fit 
for making fealing-wax as before, and for all otlier ufes 
which do not require its colour. 
A tincture of gum-lac may thus be prepared : Take 
two ounces of gum-lac, reduce it to a fine powder, and 
make it into a ftiff pafte with oil of tartar per deliquium ; fet 
this in an open glafs to dry by a gentle heat, then remove 
it to the open air, that it may relent and grow foft; then 
dry it again, and repeat this two or three times, at the end 
