LAC CULTURE
Lac is a
resinous substance secreted by a tiny insect called Laccifer lacca (“lac insect”)
Shellac is
the purified lac usually prepared in the orange or yellow flakes. Lac or shellac is used in many ways
· Commonest use is in polishing wooden
furniture.
· The granules are dissolved in spirit
and then are applied in very thin layers on the wooden surfaces
· In sealing parcels, packets, and
envelopes
· As insulating material in electrical
work
· In making phonograph records (now
replaced by synthetic material)
· In shoe polishes
· In toys and jewellery Utilization of
lac for various purposes has been very ancient in India. A “lac palace” is
described in Mahabharata, which was intended to be used for burning the
Pandavas alive.
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| Lac insec |
LAC
INSECT:
ü The lac insect lives on native trees
in India, Burma (now called Myanmar) and
ü Malaysia. In India it is chiefly
grown on trees like “Kusum”, “ Palas”, and “Ber”.
o
The
minute young lac insect (also called crawler) finds a suitable branch.
o
The
insect inserts its beak into the plant tissue to obtain nourishment.
o
It
grow in size and secretes a resinous material around itself.
o
The
resinous material hardens on exposure to air.
o
Thousands
of crawlers settle side by side and the resinous secretion builds up
ü around them and completely encases
the twig.
o
Most
crawlers develop in about 3 months into female which occupy small
ü cavities in the resinous mass. The
females can never come out of these masses.
o
Eggs
develop inside the body of the female and she assumes a sac like
ü appearance.
o
The
female dies, the eggs hatch, the crawlers escape and move to a nearby
uninfected part of the twig, and the process is repeated.
EXTRACTION
OF LAC:
The
encrusted twigs are known as stick lac. Such twigs are harvested.
· The stick lac is ground largely in
crude mortars, and the resulting granular lac
· is called seed lac.
· The fine particles or the dust
separated from the granular lac is used in making toys, bangles etc.
· The wood portion is used as fuel.
· The seed lac is washed, melted,
spread out in a thin layer and dried. This is
· the shellac of commerce.
In India the
lac insect is found in great abundance and millions of people directly or
indirectly find livelihood in this industry.
Lac Research
Institute in Ranchi (Now in Jharkhand) conducts research on the
various
aspects of the lac insect, its life history, protection against enemies, etc.
Synthetic
lacquers have been produced by the modern industry, which is replacing true
shellac for many purposes.
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