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is to be used for varnishes: what is called (hell lac, or thegrains formed into plates by melting them in boiling water,does not answer so well.

The spirit must be highly rectified, or freed as much aspossible from any admixture of phlegm or water, for other-wise it will not dissolve the lac. The most convenient andexpeditious way, of preparing the spirit for this intention,is by adding some dry potasti or other fixt alkaline fait:the fait imbibes, and dissolves in, the watery part of thespirit, and forms therewith a distinct fluid at the bottom,from which the spirituous part on the top may be pouredoff. More or less of the fait will be required according asthe spirit is more or less phlegmatic : if the first quantity,after standing for some hours and occasionally sliaking thevessel, wholly dissolves, more must be added and theagitation renewed.

The spirit being thus dephlegmed, some feed lac, reducedinto fine powder, is added to it, in the proportion of aboutthree ounces to a pint: the vessel being set in a moderatewarmth for twenty-four hours and frequently shaken, apart of the lac dissolves; and the spirit, now tinged of areddish brown colour, is strained off from the undissolvedpart, and set by for a day or two to fettle. The digestionshould be performed in a wide mouthed vessel, covered so asto prevent the exhalation of the spirit: the undissolved lacsoftens into a viscous mass, so as scarce to be got out througha narrow aperture.

In different portions of the foregoing solution, poured offclear after the straining and settling, some gamboge andannotto are dissolved separately. Gamboge is a yellowjuice, issuing from certain trees in the East Indies, andexsiccated into masses by the fun’s heat: Annotto is arti-ficially prepared from the red skins of the feeds of an Ame-rican tree, by steeping and agitating the feeds with water

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