1916 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 8i) 



Centuries be Tore any serious attempts had been made either to describe the 

 structure of galls or to explain their origin, these abnormal vegetable growths had 

 been noted and commented upon. The early ideas concerning them were fanciful 

 in the extreme; such terms as ''thunder bushes,"' and "witches' brooms,'' still 

 popularly used, have crystallized in them the superstitions that enshrouded the 

 origin of these structures. Some of the primitive, whimsical notions concerning 

 fhem have been adhered to with surprising persistency. Even as late as the 18th 

 century, Keaumur states that a number of German savants still attributed the 

 production of Xeuroterns haccannn \Ann. to Satanic, agencies. At the far-off time 

 when galls (irst began to have a prominent place in the ancient botanical writings, 

 ignorance frecinently ascribed supe.nmtural attril)utes to anything at all unwonted, 

 or even occasional, and events of outstanding importance were often supposed to have 

 been portended by perfectly natural trivial occurrences. It is not surprising, then, 

 that the earliest naturalists should have seen, in the unusual structure of galls, 

 signs that forboded the future. If an uninjured gall, opened in January or 

 February, contained a fly, war must inevitably occur; if a worm, famine was fore- 

 shadowed; while a spider betokened pestilence. "Always for ill, and never for 

 good," were the auspices. That the data, presented by galls, could be interpreted 

 as a representation of the future, was proposed first by Magnus, in the 13th century, 

 but the onu'n was still accepted by Lonicer and ]\Iattioli, in the 17th. 



When the old writers first refer to galls, they are sulttciently well-known to 

 constitute an important part of the list of prescriptions formulated by the 

 physicians of that age. A solution of the gall substance in water, or wine, was the 

 common form in which these remedies were applied. Their marked astringent 

 ju'operties were familiar to the ancients, and, in this connection, it is interesting to 

 jiote that gall products are still found in the British pharmacopoeia as astringent 

 ointments. Two eminent writers, before the Christian era, who have made some- 

 what detailed reference to galls, are llippokrates (iOG B.C.-3T7 B.C.) and 

 Theophrastus (371 B.C.-286 B.C.). The former, a famous Greek physician, dealt 

 with the subject almost exclusively from a medical viewpoint. At various places 

 in his writings he makes detailed reference to the efficacy of galls a3 remedies in 

 cases where an astringent action is desirable. The latter's work indicates more of 

 the qualities of the naturalist in its author, who must have observed the specimens 

 rather closely, as, in general, he rel'ers to their many sizes and colors, and to the 

 various shapes of particular forms. He especially mentions a gall covered with 

 weak hairs, that would serve as a wick, and a particularly hairy specimen that 

 eluded a honey-like juice. One of the most striking observations which he has 

 recorded is that the elm galls of Tetraneura ulmi were suitable for caprification, 

 since they contained animals. Although it is apparent that he must have observed 

 the insect producers, he did not, however, appreciate the relation between their 

 presence and the origin of the gall. Also, the galls on the ash and pistachia were 

 familiar to him, and with them he compares those on the elm. Theophrastus may 

 have been taught the importance of observational work by Aristotle, whose 

 favorite pupil he was. 



\\}i\\e the w'ork on galls of Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of 

 Vesuvius, A.D. 79, is better known than that of any other writer of antiquity, yet 

 he contributed very little really new material to the knowledge of the subject. 

 He treats chiefly of the oak gall of commerce, ('i/nlps tinctoria Tj.. produced on 

 Querciis infectoria. He distinguishes several forms of it, and names the variety of 

 oak upon which each is found. He mentions in this classification the green gall- 

 nut on the 'Miemeris " oak as the one best ada])ted for the preparation of leather, 

 7 E.S. 



