CYNIPTD^ — GALL-FLIES. 145 



have escaped, they are less astringent, and are called White- 

 galls. They are of great importance in the arts, being very 

 extensively used in dyeing and in the manufacture of ink 

 and leather. They are the most powerful of all the vegeta- 

 ble astringents, and are sometimes used, both internally and 

 externally, with great effect in medicine. Those imported 

 from Syria are the most esteemed, and, of these, those 

 found in the neighborhood of Moussoul are considered the 

 best.^ 



The gall of the field cirsium formerly enjoyed a very 

 great reputation, for it was considered, when carried simply 

 in the pockety as a sovereign remedy against hemorrhages. 

 It, no doubt, owed this virtue to its resemblance to the prin- 

 cipal sign of this disease, the swelling of the vein.^ 



The galls of the ground-ivy, produced by the Cynips 

 glecome, have been eaten as food in France; they have an 

 agreeable taste, and to a high degree the odor of the plant 

 which bears them. Reaumur, however, is doubtful whether 

 they will ever rank with good fruits.^ 



The galls of the sage (Salvia pomifera, S. triloba, and 

 S. officinalis), which are very juicy, like apples, and crowned 

 with rudiments of leaves resembling the calyx of that fruit, 

 are gathered every year, as an article of food, by the in- 

 habitants of the Island of Crete. This is the statement 

 of Poumefort. Olivier confirms it, and adds : They are 

 esteemed in the Levant for their aromatic and acid flavor, 

 especially when prepared with honey and sugar, and form a 

 considerable article of commerce from Scio to Constanti- 

 nople, where they are regularly exposed in the market.* 



The celebrated "Dead Sea Fruits," often called Poma 

 insana, or Mad-apples, Mala Sodomitica, etc., which have 

 given rise to great controversy among Oriental scholars and 

 Biblical commentators, are produced by the Gynip)s in- 

 sana on the low oaks (Quercus infectoria) growing on 

 the borders of the Dead Sea.^ 



1 Baird's Cyclop, of Nat. Sci. Cf. Cnv.—Ins., ii. 428; K. and S. 

 Introd., i. 318. Medict. Virt. Cf. Geoft'roy's Treatise on Subs, used in 

 Physic, p. 369. 



2 Cuv. An. Kingd. — Ins., ii. 428. Cf. GeoflFrov's Subs, used in Phys., 

 p. 369. 



3 Reaura. iii. 416. Cf. Cuv. Ibid. ji. 429. K. and S. Introd., i. 31 0. 

 ^ Smith's Introd. to Bot., p. 346. Olivier's Trav., i. 139. Cf. Ibid. 

 5 Baird's Cyclop, of Nat. Sci. 



