Arthur Aikin to Faraday   15 April 18261

Socy of Arts | 15 April

My Dear Sir

Herewith you will receive a bottle of Lacquer from the Burman Country. It was sent here by Mr Colebrooke2 & if your other experiments will allow to examine it we shall be glad to be informed of the result. It is the juice of a tree, probably a species of Rhus as it violently affects those who handle it when fresh. At present it has no such quality. It is employed by the Burmans in varnishing their turned wooden bowls & such other articles.

Yours Ar Aikin Sy

M. Faraday Esq

1
See RSA MS Minutes of Society of Arts Chemistry Committee, 18 March 1826, p.48 which ordered that these sample should be sent to Faraday. See also ‘Burmese Lacquer’, Trans.Soc.Arts, 1826, 44: 197-8.
2
Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765–1837, ODNB). Sanskrit scholar.

Please cite as “Faraday0286a,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday0286a