Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-10-05
lNsEoTs MAKE sHELLAo.
Little Creatures whose Wonderful WOrl
 Benefits Mankind.

that is found on the young twigs and branches of the butea, croton and other trees that grow in the countries of the east
 Shellac is consumed in great quanti- ti all over the world in commerce and in arts It is kept in the shops and warehouses in large hogsheads- It varies in color and thickness and is transparent It comes in broken pieces of irregular sizes, some of it being very thin.
 The crude mass from which shellac is obtained is produced by small insect (cocars lacca) resembling somewhat the cochineal. This insect is matched, ma lures and dies on these twigs. A num- Der of female insects, with few males, fasten themselves upon the tender twig and puncture the bark. A tenacious fluid exudes and envelops them The insects feed upon this juice, derive their nourishment from it and deposit their eggs within it.
 The males only have wings, and as soon as the females begin to die few females and the males go to other trees.
 After the females that remain in this gelatinous mass have deposited their eggs and have died, the eggs hatch out the young insects The young burrow through the dead bodies of their moth CTS to the surface of the mass and cover the neighboring branches.
 The eggs are deposited close to the bark, so that they are protected by their mothers bodies and by the mass that has exuded and enveloped the fe- male insects.
 Finally the young twigs are com pletely covered with a thick, hard, res inous substance.
 When the females die the frames of their bodies form little cells like those of honeycomb. As result of decom- position there are the elements of beautiful purple dye.
 When these twigs have become suff1- ciently loaded with this resinous mass the natives of the countries in which these trees grow strip the trees of these twigs and break them into small sticks. These pieces are called sticLlac. These broken twigs are immersed in hot water and the hard resinous substance is lxneaded with the hands to press out the purple dye stuff. After the gela- tinous mass has become sufficiently soft iE is taken out and dried. It is then put
  close to charcoal fires.
 Presently the mass begins to melt. By twisting the bags the mass is squeezed out, dropping onto fiat sticks placed for that purpose.
 As it is dropping from the bags it hardly strikes the sticks before it is cooled by the air. It forms into thin cakes as it is deposited on these sticks on narrow flat boards and dries.
 These cakes or sheets are called shell lac.
 As the melted mass is dropping from the cloth bags small drops unavoidably fall to the ground and dry in little round bodies called cotton-lac. Other and larger pieces that also fall to the ground and dry are called plate-lac.
 The liquid in which the strick-lac or small pieces of the twigs covered with the crude mass was soaked is now filled with the results of decomposition and other matters. It is strained and evap- orated until the residue is a purple mass. The residue is thoro ughly dried and cut into square cakes about two inches square, wh ich are stamped with certain marks which indicate the quail ity of the dye. They are then carefully packed for the market.
 The purple dye obtained from this source is used to a great extent. The beautiful scarlet shade in soldiers cloth is produced by the use of this purple dye. The annual consumption of this lac dye amounts to 1 200, 900 pounds The lac insect is a native of Siam, Assam, Burmah, Bengal and Maelabar. The proportion of males to females is to 5000.
 The best shellac is that which is most completely freed from impurities, and which approaches nearest to a light | orange-brown color. If the coloring matter is not all washed out the resin is often very dark, consequently there are different varieties, such as orange, garnet and liver.
 The juice of the trees is somewhat changed by the insects. So that if any one tells you that shellac is "a resin, :" he is not correctly informed. Shellac is not the simple juice of the tree, but | it is the result of the action of the in sects upon the juice or resin. Shellac contains several peculiar resins. | The great value of shellac is it's use in making varnishes, on account of the fine, hard polish it imparts to the var nish. fine, thin preparation made of this material constitutes the lacquer with which brass and other metals are coated to preserve their polish. l In olden times common beeswax was used for sealing envelopes. The wax was mixed with earthly materials to | give it consistency. It was difficult to preserve it. however, as even a little heat tended to soften it. Later, gum was introduced for this purpose, and then came sealing wax, which is made chiefly of shellac. The sealing wax that comes from India is the purest, and is made almost entirely of shellac, vermillion or some other pigment being mixed with it for color. All of the varieties of shellac are translucent, and some of the finer varieties are in sheets as thin as writing paper.
 By softeniug shellac with heat it may be drawn out and twisted into almost white sticks, and of fine, silky luster.