18 THE REPORT OF I'HE No. 19 



Melitcea ruhicunda, H. Ed., to Melitaa Artemis, Fab. 



Ccenonympha inornata, Edw., to Gcenonympha Pamphilus, We^twood. 



Such questions as these might come under the head of Geographical Entomology. 



But it is (2) to the importation of insects and insect productions as merchandise that I would 

 more particularly draw your attention. And first to the importation of silk and silken goods. 



The silk manufacture has been carried on in China from time immemorial. Its beginning — 

 like that of the cultivation of grain — has been lost trace of in the lapse of ages. In the third 

 century of the Christian era, silk brought to Europe was of so much value that the Emperor 

 Aurelian (most ungallant of men !) refused his wife a silk dress, on account of the cost.* 



In the 6th Century two Eastern monks visited India and acquired a knowledge of silk cul- 

 ture. They secreted eggs of the silk- worm moth in the heads of their walking-sticks, and carried 

 them to Constantinople. In the neighborhood of that city silk-culture was first practised. 

 From thence it spread to Italy, and subsequently to France. On the revocation of the edict of 

 Nantes in 1685, 70,000 Huguenots sought refuge in England and Ireland ; and some of them 

 established the manufacture of silk at Spitalfields and Derby. t 



In the days of Queen Elizabeth silk-stockings were a costly luxury ; and it is said that 

 James VI of Scotland, on one occasion, borrowed a pair from the Earl of Mar, that he might 

 present a respectable appearance before the English Ambassador. | In the fiscal year ending 

 June 30th, 1899, the people of Canada indulged in silk hosiery to the value of $4,119. 



The total value of silk goods imported to Canada in the year mentioned was $3,753,539, on 

 which custom dues amounting to $1,091,218.29 were paid. 



N ext in importance to the traffic in silk and silken goods comes that in honey and wax. 



In Canada itself Bee-culture has been raised to great perfection ; and vast quantities of wax 

 and honey are obtained. But the home supplies are not equal to the demand. And so we find 

 that in the year mentioned above, 33,564 lbs. of bees-wax were imported from the United States. 

 The value of this was f S,941 ; and upon it $894. 10 was paid as duty. Of honey and " imitations 

 thereof" 83,888 lbs. were imported — the value of which was $8,579, and the customs duty $2,. 



482.97. 



The impoitations of honey were of course small to those Provinces in which the home sup- 

 plies were large, and, vice versa, large to those whose home-supplies were small, or altogether 

 wanting. Thus by Ontario 98 lbs. only were imported, while to British Columbia 32,487 lbs. 

 were sent ; and to the Yukon, 49,694 lbs. 



Large quantities of wax are used in the manufacture of candles for use in the elaborate ritual 

 of the Roman Catholic Church. I lived for some time near a manufactory of these candles. 

 The yellow wax came in sheets, which were blanched by being spread upon the grass and ex- 

 posed to the air and the sunshine. 



Next in importance to the trade in wax and honey is that in cochineal. 



The cochineal insect. Coccus cacti, is raised in great numbers in Mexico. It is a suctorial 

 insect and its food-plant is the Nopal or Indian Fig, Cactus cuchinellifera. Extensive planta- 

 tions of cacti, or nopaleries as they are called, are formed on the mountain slopes ; and there the 

 Indians locate, watch over, and at length secure their charge. In appearanee the dried insects 

 resemble shrivelled berries, or grain. They are of a mulberry colour, and have a whitish bloom. 

 It takes 70,000 of them to the pound weight. Of the cochineal brought into Canada in the time 

 mentioned, 2,512 lbs. came through Great Britain and 30,675 lbs. through the United States. 

 The value of the whole was $1,708. According to the computation just made 232,309,000 dried 

 Cochineal insects were brought to Canada in the year. The substance called Lac is a production 

 of another Coccus, viz. — Coccus lacca which feeds on Acacia arabica and other trees. It is a 



* Kirby and '^pence's Entomology, Letter X. 



t History of Insects, R T.S., p. 153. 



+ Kirby and Spence's Eatomology, Letter X, 



