190 THE COCHINEAL INSECT. 



but it is simply staled that after the ark had rested, the waters subsided, 

 so that already on the first day of the tenth moon the mountains began 

 to come forth ; then, "after forty days Noah opened the window which 

 he had made in the ark and let fly a raven ;" and again, after three 

 weeks, "Noah took off the cover of the ark, and saw that the ground 

 was dry," respecting which he might have formed as good a judgment, 

 or even a better, from the more elevated point than from the lower. 



Should any one now inquire respecting the possibility of remains of 

 the ark still existing on Ararat, it may be replied that there is nothing 

 in that possibility incompatible with the laws of nature, if it only be as- 

 sumed that immediately after the Flood the summit of that mountain 

 began to be covered with perpetual ice and snow, an assumption which 

 cannot be reasonably objected to; and when it is considered that on 

 great mountains accumulated coverings of ice and snow exceeding 100 

 feet in thickness are by no means unusual, it is obvious that on the top 

 of Ararat there may be easily a sufficient depth of ice to cover the ark, 

 ■which was only thirty ells high." 



THE COCHINEAL INSECT. (cOCCUS.) 



Of this insect, which affords the coloring matter of those brilliant 

 crimson and scarlet dyes which have rendered cochineal so valuable in 

 the arts, there are several species. The Coccus Cacti, so called because 

 it is said to feed on a species of Cactus, the Cactus coccinllifcr, occurs 

 most abundantly in commerce. It is found in Mexico, from which the 

 principal supply for the American and European market is derived, in 

 the West India Islands, and in the soutliern pai'ts of the United States. 

 In Mexico a wild species is found, which however is scarcely ever col- 

 lected for tlie market. Parrot, in his journey to Ararat, found another 

 species in the vicinity of that mountain, and which, he thinks, is the 

 Coccus polonicus, so called because it was produced in Poland, whence 

 great quantities were derived, before the discovery of America. It is 

 principally for the purpose of directing attention to this fact, that this 

 notice has been introduced. 



"The Coccus is a genus of liemiptcrous insects, having the snout or 

 rostrum in the breast, the antenna? filiform, and the posterior part of the 

 abdomen furnished with bristles. The male lias two erect wings, the 

 female is wingless." — Iiecs\s Cyclopedia. 



The Mexican Indians, particularly those of the provinces of Oaxaca 

 and Guaxaca, form plantations of the Cactus cocciniJifer, upon which 

 they place the fcniulc insect. The ova, which she deposits, arc aoou 



