Orta, Garcia de. _Colloquies on the simples & drugs of India._ (Clements R. Markham, trans.) London: Henry Sotheran and Co, 1913. (Originally published in 1563.) Available in full at https://archive.org/details/colloquiesonsimp00orta/page/n7 . 240 TWENTY-NINTH COLLOQUY LACRE RUANO Now the turn comes for LACRE, which is used so much in this country in closing letters and for seals, instead of wax. ORTA Rather the wax is used for want of LACRE, for the LACRE is hard to unfasten, and the seal cannot be opened but must be broken. LACRE is the name for what, in the books of druggists, is called LACA, in Arabic and Persian LOCSUMUTRI or LACRE of Sumatra; not because Sumatra is near Pegu, where it is found, but because it comes from those parts. The Arabs and other people supposed it was from there, and so gave it that name. In Bengal, Balagate, and Malabar where it is, they also give it that name, learning it from the Moors, but the name in its own country is LAC. In Pegu and Martaban, whence the best comes, it is called TREC. There are some who say that it comes from Jamay, [1] whence also comes the ALMISCRE; those of Martaban and Pegu taking it to Sumatra for sale. This is the reason 241 that the Arabs call it LOCSUMUTRI. The Pegu people bring back pepper in exchange. RUANO Tell me what it is and how it is made, and in what way it is produced, for you will tell the truth as you know it, and I will then discuss what is written in books ancient and modern. ORTA I was deceived for a long time. For they said that in Pegu the channels of the rivers deposit mud into which small sticks are driven. On them are engendered very large ants with wings, and it is said that they deposit much lacre on the sticks. I asked my informants whether they had seen this with their own eyes. As they gained money by buying rubies and selling the cloths of Paleam and Bengal, they replied that they had not been so idle as that, but that they had heard it, and it was the common fame. Afterwards I conversed wtith a respectable man with an inquiring mind, who told me that it was a large tree with leaves like those of a plum tree, and that the large ants [1] deposit the lacre on the small branches. The ants are engendered in mud or elsewhere. They deposit the fum on the tree, as a material thing, washing 1 Lac, from the Sanskrit Laksha, and Hindustani lakh, meaning "100,000," as in the phrase a "lao of rupees" is the resinous exudation produced on various Indian trees - as Batea frondose, Ficus bengalensis, F. religiosa, Schleichera trijuga [kusumba], Shorea robusta [sal] and Zizyphus Jujuba, and also on the plant Cajanus indicus, the "Pigeon-Pea," - by the puncture of the females of the lac-insect, Coccus or Tachardia Lacca, as their common nuptial and accouchement bed, the seraglio of their multi- polygamous bacchabunding lord, the male C. Lacca. As freshly gathered from the tree this resin is called "stick-lac"; when the females, known as the colour "lake," are washed out of it, it is called "seed-lac"; and when this is melted and run out in layers, and cooled, it is called "shell-lac," from which "lacquer" and "sealing- wax" are formed. Both the males and femals live only for the time they are ceaselessly reproducing themselves, and as if only to dower the world with one of its most useful resins, and most glorious dyes, the colour "lake." Lac has been erroneously identified with the kanham of the Arabs, the καγκαμον of the Greeks; which was probably the resin dikamali, yielded by Gardenia lucida, and G. gummifera. See pp. 246 and 247. 242 the branch as the bee makes honey; and that is the truth. The branches are pulled off the tree and put in the shade to dry. The gum is then taken off and put into bamboo joints, sometimes with the branch. But the best is that which has the least bits of the branch with it. For they presently say this lacre has much branch, or has little. They also told me that some was very dirty and turned into powder, and that this was because it was mixed with earth. I sent to Pegu to enquire about this and found it was quite true. Being in Balagate, where there is some which is brought for sale to the seaport from the territory of Cotamaluco, they told me the same. Here in Goa a boy brought me a branch he had torn from a tree we call MACEIRA and the Deccanis BER [1], of which I have spoken before, and here it is in my garden. I see it with my eyes. As it has little lacre, the country not being suitable, no account is taken of it. But many tell me that it is the MACEIRA that is suitable for those ants, and this is clearly true, for the wings of the ants are often found mixed with the lacre. This lacre of which we speak, when it is mashed, becomes a fine red, and of this they make those sticks that you see for closing letters. They stain and so increase the necessary colour for the stick with the dye which makes that coulour. Of these sticks, or large thin plates, the carpenters or turners dye those they choose on the lathe, drawing off the lacre from the stick to the lathe. Whith this lacre they fill up the silver and gold which is empty, to make their best works. Further I know that the tree is not like a myrtle either as regards size or the leaves. It is sometimes as large as a walnut tree, sometimes smaller. It is not called AEC, the name given it by the Pandetario, nor ANCUSAL, these names being corrupt. RUANO Avicenna calls it LUC in the amended translation by the [1] Zizyphus Jujuba. 243 Belunensis, and Paulo states that the tree is like the tree yielding myrrh, that it has a good scent, that it is necessary to administer it with caution, that those are wrong who say that it is like the carrob, and that it is true that it has the virtue of the carrob in some respects. What do you think of that? ORTA I say that Avicenna did not know the LAC and spoke from conjecture. He may never have seen the stick. I would swear he had never seen the tree if he thought it was like the myrrh tree. Yet I do not know the myrrh tree to confute his statement; but I know that the gum of lacre is formed on overlaid sticks, and the other is distilled from the tree. The myrrh has a scent and the lacre has not, though Avicenna says that it has. It is called LUC by the Belunensis; perhaps he found it so written in ancient originals, for now all the Arabs call it LOCSUMUTRI. Those who say, after Avicenna, that the lacre has the properties of the carrob are to be reprehended, for this is false. The carrob is glutinous and styptic. The lacre is aperitive, and, for being very aperient, Avicenna says it must be administered with caution; and, as you know better than I do, at first we used aperients less than we do at present. But what is to be regretted in Avicenna is that he thought the lacre was the cancamo of Dioscorides. For Paulo seems to speak by his mouth. And clearly it is false, for our lacre has no smell, while the cancamo is fragrant and used as a perfume. Avicenna says another thing calling for reprehension, that, when lacre is wanting, dragon's blood takes its place, which is also a styptic medicine. RUANO Why do they call it LOCSUMUTRI? Is it, by chance, in Sumatra? 244 ORTA No; as I have told you, it is in Jamay, and it is taken from there to Sumatra, pepper being given in exchange. Now this route is not so much used, as the lacre is only sold by the Pegus to the Portuguese, and we sell it to Arabs, Persians, and Turks. We also take it to Portugal, whence it finds its way to Africa and other parts; so that there is no longer any reason for calling LOCSUMUTRI, as formerly. The Chinese who brought it to Ormuz and other lands did not care whether it was from Sumatra, and as from Sumatra they sold it; but there is none in Sumatra, or if there is any it is a very small quantity, and up to the present we have no notice of there being any in that island. RUANO Having now examined Avicenna, we will proceed to ex- amine Serapio. He calls it SAC, meaning LACA, and refers to Dioscorides in the translation of Abtabharic, who says that the gum found in Arabia is like the tree of myrrh. He quotes from Rasis that it falls from heaven on to the branches of GUBERA, and alleges that Isac says that the red stuff which falls over the sticks is used as a dye for cloths. He also says that they bring it from Armenia, a land well known in India. Now tell me the truth about all this. ORTA SAC is a corrupt word, and the lacre of Dioscorides is not lacre, of which neither Dioscorides nor Serapiam knew anything. For Serapiam thught it was the cancamo of Dioscorides, and said it was like myrrh or storax. You can see that this lacre has no scent whatever. Galen, in the trans- lation of Abathabarich [1] - some suppose it was Paulo - alleges the same. Neither Serapiam nor Paul say what is true as [1] There is diversity in the spelling of this name in Serapio (ed. Brussels, 1531), Athabarich, Albatarich, Atabari. He was the Arabian translator of Galen. 245 regards what Galen wrote. For they say that the gum of a tree which grows in Arabia is like myrrh. But this lacre does not belong to Arabia, for there is a trade with it to Arabia from India. How then can there be any credit for these statements? Rasis also states that the lacre falls from heaven over the branches of the GUBERA. This is false, for GUBERA [1] in Arabic means SORVA, and there is no SORCA in all India. The Nizamoxa has it brough from Persian and Khorasan, and I have seen it in his house. RUANO Perhaps NESPRA is intended, for other books say that it is over the branches of NESPEREIRA. ORTA It is badly translated, for GUBERA is SORVA and ANZURUT is NESPERA, but there is neither one nor the other in all India. And the assertion that it comes from Armenia is also false, for neither is there any in Armenia. RUANO The Italian Friars, who wrote on Mesué, say that no man has ever seen the true lacre in our parts, and that it is not credible that nature can be at fault, for many believe that it is the cancamo of Dioscorides, because the descriptions of Dioscorides and Paulo agree. Yet no person has even seen this cancamo, and some say that it is what we call benjoim, while many good physicians hold it to be dragon's blood. ORTA To me it seems that the Friars say well in affirming that nature is not at fault as regards these simples; and they are right in saying this because the lands are better known and the use of medicines is better understood. But in saying that [1] Sorbus domestica, or Pyrus Sorbus, the "Service Tree." 246 it is not here they are wrong, and would be more correct if they said it was here; for it is brought to India every day, and is used by Moors and Gentios. They would be still more correct if they said it was unknown to Avicenna and Serapio, or to those who turned the mention in Dioscorides and Paulo of cancamo into it, which we have not got. For what we use is it, and we know nothing of cancamo nor of benjoim. I note this because it is not in Arabia, as I have told you, speaking of benjoim. I have already put dragon's blood in its proper place. Taking you to Spain, the lacre is used there with much boldness. Here the learned Moorish physicians in Balagate use the DIALACA, which they call DALLACA, the AL being the article of genitive; so they call DIATURBIT DALTURBIT, a compous of TURBIT; and so with all the other compound words, where we put DIA they put DAL. You, who are a good Grecian, know that DIA is right, for I have heard you say so, who am not a good Grecian. Of this I will say no more, so as not to get beyond my depth. RUANO What you say is well said as regards my feelings notwith- standing your argument. I think ours is not the true lacre, for the Greeks knew it as cancamo, as did Avicenna and Serapio; and neither the one nor the other have scent, nor are they used to perfume dresses; but, mixed with myrrh and storax, the addition neither causes nor increases scent, but 247 diminishes it. I therefore conclude that we have not got the lacre but the cancamo. ORTA You say and then unsay, for first you say that nature has not been deficient in these medicines so celebrated by the Greeks and Arabs, and then you say that we have not got them. RUANO So I say again, until you give me reason for altering my opinion. ORTA It is no less inconvenient that Serapio and Avicenna did not know the lacre than to err in saying that nature has failed. You know that lacre is that which you see being sent from India to Portugal, and over all the regions of Asia and Africa and many parts of Europe, and what it is called here in India. You do not doubt what it is, nor do the Friars nor others. I say, as I have said before, that Serapio was mistaken in thinking that it was the cancamo of Paulo and Dioscorides, and Avicenna was much more mistaken, for he gives an account of cancamo, and then has a chapter on cheickem[1] as if they were two different things. When he makes such a mistake as this, it is not much to be ignorant of lacre. RUANO Very well, you have persuaded me of that. Now about cancamo, how is it we have not got it? ORTA It is a less evil that we should be wanting in one simple than in two. I will tell you what the cancamo is, according to my opinion. I have not got certain evidence to enable me [1] - Keikhem, or kamkeham. Sprengel held the word in Avicenna to be an Arabic transcription of καγκαμον. Kankham is the Arabic, and kunhiam the Persian for dikamali, the resin of species of Gardenia. See footnote on "Lac," p. 241. 248 to come to a conclusion; but when I get better proofs I am ready to change my opinion. RUANO I think you are going to say that it is benjoim, and to this I cannot agree, for benjoim is not in Arabia, as we have already seen. ORTA I do not say that, but I think it is anime, which has a good scent and is used as a perfume. It comes to Portugal from Ethiopia, a country bordering on Arabia. RUANO Certainly that satisfies me, but some say that the anime is a kind of carabe? ORTA This helps me for, according to some, cancamo is a species, and Avicenna, reprehending that opinion, says that it is not carabe though it has the same virtues, yet it is not tht but anime. RUANO A chronicler of the Indies of Castille says that there is anime in Çirvamlha near Maluco, and in Brazil. ORTA The Castillians, if you will let me say so, are a people who exaggerate greatly, and in this there is a mistake. It refers to a certain material for caulking ships of which much comes from Sumatra and many other places. But it has not the smell of cancamo nor of any other gum. In this way you may speak of lacre or cancamo until you find another medicine which more truly complies with all its signs. RUANO God be praised that I am satisfied as regards lacre and 249 cancamo, and it all seems clear. But which is the land where this gum is principally called LAC or LOC or LUC? ORTA This is the cause of many errors. In the case of the ESPODIO, as we now call it, it had another name, that of TABAXIR, the name where it grows, and the confusion caused much contention among Arabs, Latins, and Greeks, because the medicine is not known under the name of Espodio in the place where the plant grows. This gum, which is wanted and needed for dyeing, was called LOC, ans so the gum was known as LUC, and it remained the name in Arabia, to which land it was brought from where it had been bought by the Chinese. After a time it got the name of LAC among the natives of India, and those names which are so much alike no doubt originated in that way. RUANO So much is established in the affirmative that I can no longer raise a negative, and especially as regards two reasons so like each other. Now I want to ask you a question relating to trade. It is to obtain license to send 100 quintals of lacre to Portugal or Ormuz. It seems to me best to take it to Portugal, because they tell me that it is now worth four times less than what it used to be worth here. ORTA I will tell you. The Captains of Ormuz have an establish- ment and factory in Baçora, a city of Mesopotamia, whither merchants of Aleppo come to make purchases. Lacre may be sold to them at very good prices. The factor of the Captain of Ormuz who had it for sale, without much hope of getting much for it, was offered a good price by a very great merchant of Aleppo who saw it. He gave, as a reason, that there was a very rich dyer in Aleppo. He was sent for by the Governor 250 (called by them Pasha) who told him that the great quantity of money he had belonged to the king. His house was searched and it was found that he had 100,000 venezeanos. The Pasha said to him, "You are a dyer, and a rich dyer may not have more than 1000 venezeanos, how then is it that you have 100,000?" So they took all from him. As no justice can be had against Moorish Kings, this man made his complaint to the Grand Turk. He, by agreement, discovered in his land some dye in earth or on trees or bushes, which was better than lacre, consequently lacre is no longer needed in those lands, which yield to the Grand Turk more than 100,000 cruzados a year. For the service done to the Grand Turk all his money was restored to him, and many privileges besides. For this reason very little lacre is wanted in Ormuz for Persia, and none at all for Turkey or Arabia. RUANO What is that dye? It cannot be kermes, for that is in Spain and other parts. ORTA I am unable to say, but what I have told you happened as I related it. One thing I pray of you, that, when you return to Spain you will not allow them to pass dragon's blood for lacre, nor let them believe that lacre is what the Arabs call QUERMES, for one is a gum and the other a seed, of which there is plenty in Spain.