Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/732

* LAC. 66G LA CALPRENEDE. ■nhile in the hot water; it is then taken out ami dried. The process of washing and dryinj; is repealed a number of times until Kie resin io well separated from the eolorinj; matter. Tiio resin is then put into strong and very coarse cotton bags, whie'i are held near enoiigh to char coal fires to melt the resin without, burning the hags. By twisting the bags, the melted resin is then forced tliroiigh the fabric, and received in tnin curtain-like lilhis upon strips of wood. This hardens as its surface becomes acted upon by the air, and being broken olf in fragments, constitutes the shellac of commerce. The best shellac is that which is most completely freed from impurities, and approaches most to a liglit orange-brown color. If llie coloring matter has rot been well washed out, the resin is cjftcn very dark, iluch that is squeezed" thruiigli Ibe bags falls to the ground, without touching the sticks placed to catch it: small (piaiitities falling form button-like drops, which constitute the buttan lac; while larger ones, from 1 inch to 2 or .3 inches in diameter, constitute the pinte lac of commerce. Below the lac-bearing trees there is ahva.vs a very considerable quantity of the resin in small particles, whi(h have been detached by the wind shaking and dialing the hraiichcs; this also is collected, and constitutes the seed lac of mer- chants. The name of seed lac is also aiijilied to the resin after it has been freed from coloring matter and is ready to he fused. See "Lac In- clustry of Assam," in Journal of the Society of Fine 'Arts, February 8, 1001. The water in which the stick lac is first soft- ened contains, as before mentioned, the coloring matter of the dead insect. This is strained and evaporated until the residue is a purple sedi- ment, which, when sufliciently dried, is cut in small calces aboiit two inches square, and stanqied with certain trademarks, indicating its quality. These are then fully dried, and jiacked for sale as lac dye. Another method of separating the resin from the dye consists in passing the twigs through crushing rollers. The powdered matter, mixed ■with water, is nut into a stirring evlinder, where resinous and coloring matters are separated. Tw coloring matter is precipitated from the water by the addition of lime. The water is then drawn oil and the ])recipitate strained and pressed into cakes which are dried in the sun. The resin is fused in closed v>sscls by steam heat, drawn olf into a shallow trough, and then spread on hollow zinc columns, filled with warm water, which «xtend from the trough at an angle of 4.5 de- grees. Here the shellac rapidly congeals, assum- ing a leather-like texture. While still hot it is removed, and after drying and cooling is ready to be pa:-ked and shipped. The shellac of eonimerce varies in appearance, according to the thoroughness with which it was separated from the coloring matter, from a dark red-brown, called nilni xhellac, to a pale gold, called hlnndr nhrllar. White nhrlhie is shellac ■which has been bleached with chlorine. The process is a delicate one, and the product is likely to deteriorate. The great value of the lacs is found in their adaptability for the manufacture of varnislies, both in consequence of their easy solubility and also because of the fine, hard coating, susceptible of high polish, which they give when dry. All the varieties of lac are translucent, and some of the liner kinds, which are in Hakes not much thicker than writing pajier, are quite trans- parent. If a quantity of shellac be softened by heat, it may, b.v continuall,v drawing it out into lengths, and twisting it, be made not only quite white, but also opaque; in this state it has a beautiful silky lustre, and if melted and mi.ed with vermilion, or aiiv other coloring mailer, il forms some of the fancy kinds of sealing-wax. The more usual kinds are, however, made by merely melting shellac with a little tur|)entiiie and camphor, and mixing the cidoring matter. .Shellac has the projierty of being less brittle after the first melting than after subsequent niellings; iienee the sealing-wax manufactured ill India has always had a high reputation, and hence also the extreme beaut.y and durability of those Chinese works of art in lac, some of which are very ancient. These are usually chow- chow bo.xcs, tea-basins, or other small objects made in wood or metal, and covered over with a crust of lac, colored with vermilion, which, while soft, is molded into lieautiful Dalterns. In India lac is used as a coating for wooden toys, and many articles of personal adorunient arc made from it. It is also used as a cement and by gold- smiths as a filling for hollow ornaments. LAC (Hind. /<r/.-, lahh, iQkh, from Skt. lakm. hundred tliousand I. In the Kast Indies, a word signifying a sum of 100,000 rupees. One hundred lacs, or ten millions of rupees, make a crore. LA CAILLE, h'l'ki'y'. Xiroi.AS Loiis de (1713-02). A French a-stronomer, born at Ru- niigny. He was a jirotcge of the Duke de Bour- bon, and under his ])ationage became connected V.'ith the scientists ('assini and Marahli. and later was actively engaged in meridional measurements in France. He waselected to the .cadeni.v in 1741, and about the same time professor of mathemat- ics at the College .Iazarin, where he established an oliscrvatorv in 1740. His Le(oni! cl/'inrntaires de ni'ilhrniatiiiur (1741). Lecnns d'antronomie g^omftriiiiie rt physique (1740), LcQoiiii de me- caiiif/ue (174;i), and Lecou.i d'optique (1750) were composed for the use of the students there. From 17">0 until 17.">4 he was in charge of an astronomical ex])cdition at the Cape of Good Hope, where he made many valuable discoveries among the southern stars and constellations. His other works include Tnhulir Solares (IIUS), Astronomiw Fuiiddinentn (I'tH^). Crrhim Australe fttelliferum (1700), and some Tables de loga- rilhmes (1700). His Jonrnal was published in 17G.3. LA CALPRENEDE, la kal'pre-nfid', Gautieu DE f'osTES OE ( ItilO-O.i I . A prominent French novelist of (he seventeenth century, born at the Chateau de Tolgon. near Caliors, in Quercy. In his youth La CalpreiiMe appears as a frank, free, over-bold gallant, an officer of the Guards, then royal chamberlain. From this function he with- drew on making a rich but not congenial mar- riage with a noted bluestocking, her.self an author and iiresident of a literary salon. La Calpren^de wrote ten plays and three novels, in 29 volumes of over .'iOO pages each. The plays are in the style of Corneille, and would be conspicuous were they not outshone by such masterpieces. The best of them are: T a morf de Mithrid/ite (10.37) : Brndamnnte (16.37) ; Jeanne d'Angleterre (1637) ; Le comte d'Essex (1039) ;