^32 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIF. 



investigate their environments. The buffalo dis- 

 dained to consume any insects, even when forced 

 upon him ; he turned aside and resumed his burrow- 

 ing operations, and when forcibly expelled from the 

 gall, was evidently unable to fly, on account of the still 

 imperfectly developed state of his wings. Whatever 

 the purpose of this beetle, certain it is that the 

 Chinese prefer his absence, and give the highest prices 

 for those galls in which "buffaloes " are fewest. 



There is a third insect, known by the Chinese as 

 *' /a-^w/," " wax dog;" thus contemptuously desig- 

 nated because it is supposed to prey upon the insects. 

 This is a caterpillar, of brownish hue, something like 

 a small bean in shape. About this creature there are 

 one or two ingenious hypotheses. Does it possibly 

 create the gall excrescences containing the insects ? 

 and is it the offspring of the beetle ? which probably 

 remains amongst the branches of the tree for some 

 time, being unable to fly far, and may then propagate 

 its species. 



There is an annual exodus in the spring of insect- 

 bearers, hurrying from the mountains of Chien-ch'ang 

 to Chia-ting, laden with insect galls to place upon 

 the wax-trees. These carriers usually travel by night, 

 but those from the more remote districts journey day 

 and night, bearing the galls, placed loosely on trays 

 within long bamboo baskets, through which the air 

 permeates freely. In Chien-ch'ang these insect galls 

 are packed in paper parcels, usually containing about 

 sixty packets to the load. At the halting stages the 

 insect carriers open and spread the contents of their 

 packets in the coolest places they can find, so that 

 the insects may not be forced to escape from the galls, 

 which, however, usually lose an ounce in weight 

 before arrival at their destination. 



The white wax-tree, .known to the Chinese as 

 " Pai-la-shu," has its habitat more especially within 

 the districts of O-mei, To-shan, and Chien-wei, in 

 the prefecture of Chia-ting ; it will occasionally grow 

 in the north of the province, but is not known in any 

 other localities. This tree attains a height of about 

 six feet, and its branches spring from the gnarled top 

 of the thick, stump-like stem ; the boughs rarely 

 exceed six feet in length ; they are extremely pliant, 

 and, being thus much swayed by; wind, are not found 

 sufficiently strong for the reception of the insects, 

 until the third year of their growth. The tree is 

 deciduous, the foliage depends in pairs from the 

 branches, and is light green in colour, serrated, ovate, 

 and pointed in shape. The insect seed-cases having 

 been conveyed into the wax-tree provinces, are 

 assorted into little packets of twenty to thirty, and 

 enclosed within a leaf of the wood-oil tree, the edges 

 of which are secured together by tying them with 

 rice-straw, and the packets are then suspended 

 beneath the branches of the wax-tree, the leaves of 

 which are roughly perforated with a coarse needle, to 

 enable the insects to pass through them to the boughs. 

 On quitting the seed-cases, the newly emancipated 



wax-makers crawl from the branches on to the leaves, 

 where they pass a period of about thirteen days ia 

 acquiring vigour of limb and strength of growth.. 

 They then appear to moult, casting off a hairy cover- 

 ing which has enveloped them during this season^ 

 and thence descend to the younger branches, to which 

 they attach themselves firmly by the mouth ; later the 

 upper portion of the branches are also laden with 

 insects, which remain motionless where they first 

 take up positions ; and the wax secreted by thena 

 begins to encrust the boughs and twigs, like a coat- 

 ing of "sulphate of quinine;" these singular insects 

 being found to construct a series of galleries extending 

 from the bark of the tree to the outer surface of the 

 wax, which gradually becomes thicker, for a period 

 of about a hundred days, when it has attained a depth 

 of a quarter of an inch. The Chien-wei insects 

 manufacture wax in the space of seventy days, bat 

 the quality is inferior. In the evenings and mornings 

 the insects appear less tenacious in their hold of the 

 bark : but at noonday they adhere closely ; and it is 

 at this time that the owners beat the stumps of the 

 trees with thick sticks to dislodge the caterpillars or 

 " wax-dogs," which they assert are destructive to the 

 wax-makers. When the branches become laden with 

 wax, the caterpillar is unable to crawl to the insects, 

 and the belabouring is discontinued. Variable 

 weather, rain, or heavy wind, occasions great havoc 

 amongst the insects ; more especially in the earlier 

 stages of their existence. When the wax is perfected 

 the branches are cut off, and the wax carefully re- 

 moved by hand, and placed in iron vessels ; the wax, 

 when at melting heat, rises to the surface, whence it 

 is skimmed, and placed into circular moulds ; when 

 cool it is ready for market. Wax adhering too closely 

 to the bark to be removed by hand, is 'prepared by a. 

 similar process, the boughs being irtimersed with the 

 wax ; but this is not so white as the first lot, nor so. 

 good in quality. The insects which have fallen to. 

 the bottom of the vessels are now placed in bags 

 and pressed to extract any remaining wax ; and as 

 the Chinese are an economical people, the refuse is 

 utilised as food for their pigs. 



This white wax is used principally in the manu- 

 facture of candles. 



Tallow is found to melt at a heat of 95°, whilst to 

 dissolve the solid white wax a temperature of 160° 

 Fahr. is required. Some of the wax is produced in 

 the neighbourhood of Ch'ung-k'ing, where it is cus- 

 tomary to mix a certain proportion of the wax with 

 tallow, to give the latter consistency ; these candles, 

 being afterwards dipped in melted wax to improve 

 their appearance. As the wax-tree — which is said to 

 become exhausted in about seven years — does not 

 grow so far east as the province of Chung-k'ing, the 

 wax-makers are removed from one insect-tree to. 

 another, and consequently their produce deteriorates, 

 in quantity and in quality. 



E. GOATLEY. 



