The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-08-20
JAPANESE LACQUER.
A smait Tree, the Juice OF Which Makes
"a Capital Narnlsb.

A Small Tree, the Juice OF which Makes
"a Capital Narnisb.
A very interesting experiment has re-
Gently been recorded rs having been
conducted at Frankfort by Prof. Rein,
of Bonn, so well known for his splcn
didly illustrated work on Japanese arts.
One of the principal OF ohes, arts is that
of lacquering in which no other nntion
can excel the Japanese The art is one
of great antiquity, and The old examples
are very costly. The lacvuer, unlike
the European varnishss and p0lishes,
which are compound substances, con-
sists of the juice of small tree known
TO botanists 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 re-
ceive it. The juices of this and all
other species of Rhus are extremely
acrid and poisonous, bliste.ing the skin
severely if allowed to come in contact
with it, Consequently the Japanese
collectors use thick gloves to cover the
hands during the process of collecting.
After the crude juice has been drawn
from the tree it is prepared in different
ways by the Japanese experts, 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 artist. The modern lacquer
ware of Japan, however, is totally
different article from that of one hun
dred and fifty or even one hundred
years ago There is at present a great
demand in the European markets for
cheap lacquered articles, in consequence
of which they have to be produced
quickly and in large quantities, so that
a very inferior article is produced both
in design and finish. Nevertheless, the
process of lacquering has never been
mastered by Europeans.
1t has been tried by practical varnish'
makers in this country, but always
without success, and it is now thought
by Prof. Rein that if the trees could be
established in Eu rope and the juice
freshly drawn from the trunks some OF
thedifiiculties of its manipulation might
be overcome. Considering that several
species of Rhus are hardy plants in ouI
strawberries, there is, perhaps, no rea
son why Rhus vernicifera should not bt
included among them. Indeed, thi,
question seems set at rest by the fact
that number of healthy trees some
thirty feet high, are now fourishing al
Frankfort, the trees originally planted
there having produced seed, from which
other trees have been raised.
The next question seemed to bt
whether the changed conditions o
growth and climate would in any way
affect the nature or co IMPOSITION 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
perimcnted with by the native artists
Besides this the native and European
juices have been analyzed by German
chemists upon whose reports, coupled
with those of the Japanese artists, it i
expected the fate of lacquering as al
industry in Europe will stand or fall
If the reports ON the quality of the juic
from Japan be favorable it is proposed
to plant the tree largely and bring owe
some expert workers from Japan to teacl
their peculiar art to European students
There is, however, another use t.
which the Japanese lacquer tree nigh
be put should it prove to take so llindl,
to European soil as to produce its fruit
abundantly. These individual fruit
are small-not much larger than pea
but somewhat flattened-and are born
in punches or clusters. They are GOV
cred with a thin, light brown, shin
slxin under which and Immediately sur
rounding the seed is deposit of whit
wax, which forms, with that of an al
lied species (Rhus succedanea), tn
product known as Japan wax, which
nsed by the Japanese for making can
dies and is also exported in large quar-
titles to China and to this country
some extent for a similar purpose, as we