Zwei Bemerkungen über den Schellack

Zu Wort und Sache, ältere Quellentexte betreffend

Abstract

Two Remarks on Shellac. On Term and Matter, Regarding Early Sources
Sometimes natural science publications fail to take into account relevant findings from other fields, such as the humanities. In the case of research into shellac, two errors in particular are persistent. One is the assertion that it was van Linschoten who was the first European to mention shellac, namely in his book Itinerario published in 1596. The other is the assertion that the word lac can be traced to a meaning ‹100,000›. A closer look at the Itinerario shows that its author does not deal with shellac in a literal sense but mentions sticklac merely as one of a number of resins. In particular, he mentions a product made from it with paint additives. For this, however, a much older literary source can be cited, namely from the second century AD. Moreover, the etymology of the word lac demonstrates that the attribution of the meaning ‹100,000› is mistaken. This misunderstanding arises from a homonym that emerges only in new Indo-Aryan, the homonym being derived from two words in the old Indo-Aryan language which must be regarded as separate. Only one of the two words, namely l¯aks.¯a, refers to sticklac. It is found in the recensions of the Atharvaveda, which is considered to be the oldest source for the concept of sticklac.