Gum Lacca Croton, c1745-1807

Description

Glass jar, with plastic screw top lid and paper labels, containing specimens of lac, a gummy secretion from the insect Tachardia lacca (Kerria lacca), on twigs. From the Burges Collection.

Text on paper labels reads ‘Catal. Mat. Med. p. 127, no. 71’ and ‘GUM LACCA CROTON’.

Lac was used for softness of the gums.