The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-05-05
JAPANESE LACQUER.
"A Small Tree, the Juice of Which Makes
a Capital Varnish.

I r e
"A Small Tree, the Juice of Which Makes
Capital varnish.
A very interesting experiment has
recently been recorded as having been
conducted at Frankfort by Prof. Rein
of Bonn. 80 well known for his SPLEEN
.didly illustrated works on Japanese
arts. One of the principal of these
arts is that of lacquering, In which no
other nation can excel the Japanese.
The art Is one of great antiquity, and
the old examples are very costly.
The lacquer unlike the European
varnishes and polishes which are
compound substances. consists of the
juice of small tree known to botan-
lists as Rhus vernicifera. and this Juice
is drawn from the trunks by making
incisions in them, from which it flows
into bamboo pots placed to receive it.
The juices of this and all other
species of Rhus are extremely acrid
and poisonous. blistering the skin Sc
yerely if allowed to come in contact
with it. Consequently the Japanese
collectors use thick gloves to cover
the hands during the process of col
Letting. !" .s..- H..
After the crude juice has been
drawn from the tree it is prepared in
different ways by the Japanese ex-
perts. and the process of applying it
to wood or metal work is a very
tedious one, and one which can only
be properly effected by native ar
list. The modern lacquerware of ia
pam however, is a totally different ar
ticle from that of $50 or even 100
years ago. There is at present great
demand in the European markets for
cheap lacquered articles in conse-
quence of which they have to be pro-
duced quickly and In large quantities.
so that a very inferior article is pro-
duced. both in design and finish.
Nevertheless. the process of lacquer.
ing has never been mastered by Euro
peans.
1t has been tried by practical var
lishmakers in this country-says In
lustries. an English periodical but
always without success, and it is now
thought by Prof. Rein that if the
trees could be established in Europe
and the juice freshly drawn from the
trunks some of the difficulties of it's
| manipulation might be overcome
Considering that several species of
Rhus are hardy plants in our shrub
berries, there is, perhaps no reason
why Rhus vernicefera should not be
included among them. Indeed, this
question seems set at rest by the fact
that number of healthy trees, some
thirty feet high. are now fourishin
at Frankfort the trees originally
planted there having produced seed.
from which other trees have been
raised.
The next question seemed to be
| whether the changed conditions of
growth and climate would in Any way
affect the nature or composition of the
juice and to prove this some of the
trees at Frankfort have been tapped
and the juice sent to Japan to be ex-
perimented with by the native artists.
Besides this the native and European
Juices have been analysed by German
chemists upon whose reports cou-
pied with those OF the Japanese art
lists. 1t is expected that the fate of
lacquering as an industry in Europe
will stand or fall. If the reports
| on the quality of the juice from Japan
be favorable it is proposed to plant
the tree largely and bring over some
expert workers from Japan to teach
their peculiar art to European stu
dents.
There is, however. another use to
which the Japanese lacquer tree
might be put should it prove to take
| so kindly to European soil as to pro-
duce it's fruits abundantly. These in
| dividual fruits are small-not much
larger than a pea, but somewhat flat
| tened-and are borne in punches or
| clusters. They are covered with a
thin light brown, shiny skin. under
which and Immediately surrounding
the seed is a deposit of white wax.
| which forms, with that of an allied
species (Rhus succedanea>. the pro-
duct known as Japan wax, which is
! used by the Japanese for making can
dies and is exported in large quanti-
| ties to China and to this country to
some extent for a similar purpose as
we'll as for making wax matches.