126 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



Mexico is the only country in which the Cochineal 

 are raised expressly for commerce, and this principally 

 in the provinces of Tlascala, Oaxaca, Guatimala and 

 Honduras, from which places alone, according to the 

 account of Humboldt, there are every year exports 

 of this article amounting to two and a half millions of 

 dollars. An enormous sum indeed to be annually 

 expended for Insect cadavers 



There are, for this branch of industry alone, planta- 

 tions containing more than fifty thousand Cactus 

 plants, cultivated for no other purpose than to 

 serve as food for these valuable little Insects. The 

 collection and preparation of this article of com- 

 merce most generally falls to the lot of the Indian 

 woman. 



It is a remarkable circumstance, that the dried 

 Cochineal never perishes, and may be kept in store- 

 houses perfectly preserved for hundreds of years. A 

 fact which clearly indicates the use which Nature 

 intended should be made of it. 



The best treatise on the Cochineal, and one which 

 contains every thing that is known or can be said 

 of it, is that written by Thiery de Menonville: 

 " Traite de la culture du Nopal, et de l'edncation 

 de la Cochenille. Paris, 178*7:" to which I refer the 

 reader. 



The Cochineal Insect is often found in our hot- 



