40 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 



The Kermes (Coccus ilicis, Latr.) has been em- 

 ployed to impart a scarlet colour to cloth from the 

 earliest ages. It was known to the Phosnicians 

 under the name of Tola, to the Greeks as Kokkos, 

 and to the Arabians and Persians as Kermes or 

 Alkermes (Al signifying the, as in the Arabian 

 words alkali, alchymy, etc.). In the Middle Ages 

 it received the epithet Vermiculatum, or " little 

 worm/' from it having been supposed that the in- 

 sect was produced from a worm. From these de- 

 nominations have sprung the Latin coccineus, the 

 French cramoisi and vermeil, and our crimson and 

 vermilUon. 



The Coccus ilicis, or Kermes, is found in many 

 parts of Asia, the southern countries of Europe, and 

 the south of France, where it is very common. The 

 first person who made mention of this insect appears 

 to have been Pierre de Quiqueran, who spoke of it 

 as early as 1550. Its history was afterwards written 

 by Nissole in a paper addressed to the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences in 1714, and by Reaumur in the tomeiv. 

 of his "Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire des In- 

 sectes." The females resemble a pea in size and 

 form, whence they have been frequently taken for 

 seeds. The insect lives upon a small evergreen oak, 

 the Quercus cocci/era, L., and yields a brownish red 

 colour, which alum turns to a blood-red tint. 



Dr. Bancroft has shown that when a solution of 



