Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-06

little Creatures Mhose wonderful NJ,
gsncfi;S Mankind.

nfht~ Msnkiud.
Prom ;hs Ros,ra Gio'e.
What makes your ds-by suG.
S.,cllEc.
What IL sealing wax?
sho'iac chiefly. principally.
VIA; l. sh.lhc?
Il l. the product q ccrprosi,o mass tl,st {.
found on IN, yoaag tWigs and h-snches oi m,
butca. croton nnl other trees that gtow IN The
countries 20 tn cost
Shol,ac Is consumed IN grrl. eaar,i.irs ali
over M world g. coanm,rc, as1 in arts.
LIS ks.t N the sh,rs ari varch,u.ss n
large hog hoals. IL varies in cal1r ani ~ *
nos and T. trtusna-eat 2, comes in hrokon
pieces Of irregular sizes. some og Il being very
thin
The crude mas from which shaliac l. Oh
tanned i produced by a small insect ocean.
laoca rssernbli.v srnavN has thr caclinoul This
insect is hAtchcd. natures and dies on the-e
twics. A numbcr cf female insects. With few
males. fasten ihemsel,c, anon the tcndsf wig
and pnucture the barb. ieuaciou. iEig ~
Udcs and envelopes them The uss,-fs rs
npun thia JUICE. derive tbrir nou-i-hneuf from
n aud depo l. their eggs within IL.
The taaies ouly havc Wiags. and as s,arr O..
the females begin u die a few fcmalcs af.I "a.
males 20 20 other trees.
After the females thst remain in this 6, latin
Gus mass have dUpositcd their oggs and l.,s
died the egg hatch ont the Noung iua,rt. tn.
Young hurroU through the dead bodies AZ thai-
mothers Ia the surface ~ the mass and cover
the n,ighboriag branches.
The Eggs are deposited close 90 the bHrE -
that they are projected by ih,,r MOTHER h,iil,s
aud By the mass that has eNnded and cnyflol,el
the female insects
Finally the Young twigs are comul.talf ra,y-
cred With thick. hard. rrsiuoas sub-ianrt.
When the females die the frame ~ their
bodies form little cells like those Of a su...,-
comb. A. result az dcco,n -o~ition the. are
the clements OF beautiful purple dive.
when these twigs have become sufficiently
loaded with this rc-inous mass thu nailvss ~
the countries in which the., trees grow stfir the
trees OF these tvigs and break thcm int small
suck~ 1acSc pieces are called ziick-ac. These
( broken twigs are immersed In hot water and
the nard rcsinous subs'an,, j. kaeaded wlth the
hands To press GA; the purule dye stuff After
T the gclatnoGs mass has become sufficiently soft
+ Il Is taken out and dried. II l. then mt into
coarse cloth bags and Suspended close T. char
coal firrs
IRE emily the mass begins Co melt. b. twist
ing ihe bags .he mass j. squeezed out. dfapuing
onto fiat sticks placed Tor that purpose.
As t = dropping from the hags it hardly
strikes the sticks before u l. coocd bv rlir air
/ IL forms into thin cakes ~ IL j. Gepoai-ed On
] those sticks on narrow fat boards aud d1i.s
These cakes or sheets are called shollar.
A. the melted igass l. dropping fIlln the
cloth bags small dTols Tua soi2.b.y fsll O. the
ground and DRY IN liftle round bodis4 ca led
cottcn-lac. Other and larger pieces that also
/ fall 20 The ground and DRY are called riatt-lnc
The liquid in which the stick la. o. small
pieces at the twigs covered with the crude mas
/ was soaked Is nov fll,d with the rc.al. a. de-
composition and o.her matters. IL Is atrnin.,i
and eyarorated until the residue l. a purple
mass. The residue l. thoroughly dried and cut
mo square cakes about two inches =uuare
which are stamped with certain marks which
indicate the quality OF the dve. They ere then
carefully packed for the market.
The purple dye obtained from this source IL
used to a great extent. The beautiful scarlet
shade In soldiers cloth is produced by he use
! OF this purple dive. The annual cons amrfiun
OF this lac dye amounts to 200 900 poands
! The lac insect Is a native Of siam. Assam.
/ BurInah. Bengal aud Maabar. The proportion
/ of males 60 females il I to 5000.
/ The best fhoilae j. that which is msst rom
/ pletely freed from impurities and Nhich al,-
! proaches nearest 10 a light orange-hro, ~ color
IL the colorlng matter l. not al washed cut the
resin is often very darh: consequently deere are
/ different varieties. such orange. IA zoe; aud
| liver.
The juice OF the trees is somevhat changed
by the insects: that If any one tells Fou that
shellac Is "a resin he is not correctly Informed
sheilac is not the simple juice Of the nee. but
/; ~ the result Of the action Of the insects upon
I
peculiar rozinS.
The great value 81 shollac is it, lae H. making
varnishes On account u the fine. hard polieh IL
iml,arts To the varnish A fine. thin nrepara-
ton made of this material constiih-es the
lacquer with which brass and other metals are
coated 20 preserve their polish.
In olden times common beeswaN wa used for
sealing envelopes. The wax was mised with
earthly materials to give IL consistency. Il was
din suit 10 preserve IT, however. ~ even a little
i haaH la14 -
I duced for this purpose. and then caIns sealing
WAN. which is made chiefly Of shellsc The
sealing wax that comes from India l. he purest
aid is made almost entirely 81 sliells, ycrmi-
lion or some other pigment being miNnd with IL
for color All Of the varieties Of slttilac are
translucent. aud some Of the finer varieties re
in sheets as thin as writing paper
By softening shellac with heat IL NAV he
drawn out and twisted into almost Nliiir stitk=
and OF fine. silky ulster. Extreme leuuty j.
given to Chinese works Of art by the u. of Shtl-
lac. Some Of them very nncieit aud %
great value. They are chiefly choA-chsv boxes.
tea basins or other small objects mad, ~ wood
or metal They are covered with cot 81 shcl-
lac colored with vermillion. and ahile the
layer OF sheilac is soft aud rliAble il !. molded
and shaped into beautiful patterns. Some ct
these works thus ornainent.d are So rlre aud
beautiful that even i'm China they cosf fabulous
sums.
The amount ~ sheac that was inn. ted into
Boston FOR the year ending june "a lsgp. WAS
q. SIC pound. about three tons aud = a. worth
Sl4.3S1. The total amount impori's into the
United States for the year ending Jun. 20. $50.
was i730. iG5 pounds e the value oi -.a2 as.
For the wear 81 1889 the number al ponds i'm
ported into tie United States was 5.5i5.s73.