INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, 



MANNA. 



must again turn to the genus Coccus, to 

 speak of a species of wax-producing in- 

 sect which is attracting particular atten- 

 tion in France at this moment. This will 

 be better understood when it is known 

 that the French pay four millions of francs 

 annually for wax ; and the Coccus of which I speak 

 produces about ten millions of francs' worth of wax 

 per annum. It is a Chinese insect, and the wax it 

 produces resembles spermaceti. It was first alluded 

 to by Grosier, who remarked that towards the 

 beginning of winter small tumours appear on the 

 trees it inhabits. These tumours increase in size 

 until they are as large as a walnut. He imagines 

 these to be the nests of the female insects ; they 

 are filled with eggs which hatch in the spring, and 

 the young insects disperse themselves on the leaves 

 and pierce the bark. The wax they produce pro- 

 bably in the same manner that lac is produced by 

 Coccus lacca is perfectly white, and known to the 

 Chinese as Pe-la (white wax) . It begins to appear 



