l82 



HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE- G O SSIP. 



THE KERMES [COCCUS ILICIS). 



FROM the earliest ages this insect has been 

 employed to impart a scarlet colour to cloth. 

 It was known to the Phoenicians under the name of 

 Tola, and to the Arabians and Persians as Kermes or 

 Alkermes (Al signifying the, as in the Arabian words 

 Alchemy, Alkali). 



Dioscorides calls it kohkos, and Pliny coccum and 

 gratium. In the Middle Ages it received the epithet 

 Vermiculatum, or "little worm," from its having 

 been supposed that the insect was produced from a 

 worm. From these denominations have come the 

 Latin cocci7icns, the French cramcisi and vermeil, 

 and our own words crimson and vermilion. The 

 Coccus ilicis, or kermes, is found in great numbers in 

 India and Persia, attaching itself to the leaves of a 

 small oak, the kermes oak (Querais cocci/era), alow 

 bushy shrub with evergreen spinous leaves, resem- 

 bling holly. The kermes is also found in the southern 

 countries of Europe, and in the south of France, 

 In parts of Spain, the kermes oak grows in great 

 profusion, as on the sides of the Sierra Morena. 

 Many of the inhabitants of Murcia gain a livelihood 

 by collecting kermes. This work is for the most 

 part done by women, who [scrape the insects from 

 the tree with their nails, which they allow to grow 

 long on purpose. 



The insect attaches itself to the young shoots of 

 the shrub ; the female affixing itself and remaining 

 immovable, till after having reached its full size, 

 about that of a pea, which it much resembles, it 

 deposits its eggs and, dies. It is gathered before 

 the eggs are hatched, thrown into vinegar, and then 

 dried in the sun or in an oven. It has been, from 

 time immemorial, used to dye cloth, and is supposed 

 to have been the substance employed in dyeing the 

 curtains of the Jewish tabernacle. As the colour 

 which it yielded was more beatiful than the celebrated 

 Phoenician dye, it may have contributed to have put 

 an end to the monopoly of the Phoenician dyers. 



The kermes yields a brownish red colour, which 

 alum turns a blood-red tint. Dr. Bancroft showed 

 that when a solution of tin is used with kermes dye, 

 as with cochineal, the kermes is capable of giving a 

 scarlet colour, quite as brilliant as that which cochineal 

 produces, and to all appearance more permanent. But 

 on the other hand one pound of cochineal will produce 

 as much colouring-matter as ten or twelve pounds of 

 kermes. Cochineal has supplanted kermes, and the 

 latter is now only cultivated by the poorer inhabi- 

 tants of the countries in which it abounds, especially 

 in India and Persia, and the peasantry of Southern 

 Europe. 



Another species of Kermes {Coccus poloniciis) is 

 very plentiful in Poland and Russia, and is some- 

 times called the Scarlet Grain of Poland. Before 

 the advent of cochineal, this insect formed a con- 

 siderable branch of commerce. In the neighbourhood 



of Paris, and in many parts of England, the C. 

 poloniciis is found upon the roots of the perennial 

 knawel {Scelo-aiithus pcreniiis), a plant not un- 

 common in Norfolk and Suffolk. The colour which 

 it furnishes is nearly as fine as that of cochineal, and 

 capable of giving the same variety of tints. The 

 insect was formerly collected in the Ukraine, 

 Lithuania, &c., and though still employed by the 

 Turks and Armenians for dyeing wool, silk, and hair, 

 but especially for staining the nails of Turkish 

 women, it is rarely msed in Europe except by the 

 Polish peasantry. 



The same may be said of other species which the 

 cochineal has eclipsed, such as the Coccus, found 

 upon the roots of Fotciium sanguiso7-bis, an insect 

 formerly used by tlje Moors for dyeing silk and wool 

 a rose colour ; and the C. uva-nrsi, which, together 

 with alum, dyes crimson. 



All these species owe their colouring property to a 

 principle called Carmine. 



G. E. Cope. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The first volume of Messrs. Whittaker's new 

 " Library of Popular Science " will be an elementary 

 introduction to astronomy by Mr. G. F. Chambers, 

 whose larger works on the subject are well known. 

 It is meant especially for readers who have no 

 previous acquaintance with practical astronomy, and 

 in this, as in other volumes of the series, considerable 

 attention will be paid to efficient illustration and 

 explanatory diagrams. The volume will be ready in 

 the course of a few weeks, and will shortly be 

 followed by others. 



At the general monthly meeting of the Royal 

 Institution on Monday, July 6, the special thanks 

 of the members were returned to Miss Jane Barnard, 

 Dr. J. H. Gladstone, the Rev. A. R. Abbott, Mr. T. 

 F. Deacon, Mr. A. Blaikley, and others, for the loan 

 ol the valuable and interesting collection of Faraday 

 memorials shown in the library on the occasion of 

 the two lectures on June 17th and 26th given in 

 commemoration of the Faraday Centenary ; also to 

 Sir Frederick Abel, K.C.B. for his valuable present 

 of an Qirtling Balance ; and to Mr. Ludwig Mond, 

 for his donation of £100 towards expenses connected 

 with the Faraday Centenary commemoration. 



Dr. Robert Wiesendanger, of Hamburg, has 

 just patented a method of employing carbonic acid 

 to produce intense cold, for the purpose of causing 

 insensibility, which will prove particularly useful in 

 dental operations. It is used in the form of a pencil, 

 and any part of the body on being rubbed with this 

 pencil loses sensibility, without the freezing of the 

 skin ; and slight surgical operations can then be 



