114 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



the virus, to be obtained in the following way : "'Draw out the sting, together with the poison 

 bag, from a bee freshly killed. Take hold of the bag, insert the point of the sting into a small 

 glass tube and squeeze the poison into it, or take a small bee with a pair of pincers and allow it 

 to seize a small Jump of sugar, which will absorb the poison." This hymenopterous fly is an 

 important factor of the produce market, being the manufacturer of a wax much used for many 

 purposes, and that sweet article of household use, as also in dispensing drugs — honey. 



Other victims of the pharmacist are the bright-red minute Acarus Tromhidinm muscoi 

 (/omesf/crf/, which the pharmacopojia states is "found under the wings of the common fly in 

 Philadelphia." The aphis or plant louse of Ghennpodium glaucum, and the red ant, Formica 

 r/'/a, Linn. Nor does the gardener's friend, the "Lady-bird beetle," escape, for the "live 

 insects" are " pounded to pulp " and triturated with sugar of milk. 



It IS recorded that the Greek barber surgeons of Asia Minor valued ants for holding together 

 the edges of a cut. They held a large Campotiotus in a forceps and when it opened its mandible, 

 wide, it was permitted to seize the edges of the cut, which were held together for the purposes 

 its head being cut off as soon as a firm grip was made. A similar practice was observed in Brazil 

 several years ago by M. Morqueys of Rouen, and is cited by Sir John LubbocK but is not men- 

 tioned by either Bates or Wallace. 



The bushmen of the South African district Kalahai seta high value on the leaf-beetle 

 Diamphidia, as they use its juice and its larva for poisoning their arrow-heads. 



For the Arts and Technical Sciences, there are several insects that are of great value. 

 We have ^o thank a small Mexican scale-insect Coccns cacti, Linn, for the brilliant colour called 

 cochineal which has superseded even the splendid and regal " Tyrian purple " of ancient days. 

 It is used in the manufacture of dyes, paints and in pharmacy and also for coloring confectionery. 

 It is of no value in medicine although it has been used as an "anodyne, tonic, astringent " 

 Another important hemipterous insect is the West Indian Coccus lacca, Kerr, the female of 

 which punctures the young branches of several tropical trees, thereby producing a resinous pro- 

 duct called, lac, stick-lac, or shellac, used in the manufacture of varnishes, sealing-wax and a 

 dye called Lac-lake. Indian cochineal is prepared from stick-lac and imported from India for 

 coloring woollen and silk-goods. Its colour is similar to, but less brilliant than cochineal. Coccns 

 ilicls, Fab. supplied the famous dye KOKKOS of the Greeks, Coccus of the Romans, Kermes 

 of the Arabs, Cocchi of the Italians and Al-kermes of the Persians. Though a larger species 

 than C. cacti its colour is inferior and less in quantity. Chinese-wax is the produce of a similar 

 insect Erictrus pela. 



In Syria a peculiar secretion called Manna is produced by the punctures of the female Coccus 

 manniparns, Fab. on the young shoots of the Tamarlx mannifera, Ehrenberg. It is a kind of 

 reddish syrup containing glucose, dextrin, and cane-sugar, and is eaten by the Arabs and the 

 monVs of Mount Sinai like honey with their bread. There is another product which goes by the 

 same name in the drug trade, but it is not the same, it consists principally of a sugar called 

 mannite. There are several other saccharine products of insects which have been classed with 

 Manna, but they are not entirely soluble in water. The term manna is more interesting histori- 

 cally than the article now known by that name. It was originally applied to the food so mira- 

 culously supplied to the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. What that sub- 

 stance was we do not know. The natives around Mount Sinai believe that the substance collected 

 by them is what the children of Israel fed on. 



That rapacious insect, the migratory locust CEdipoda migratoria, Linn, is valued as an 

 article of food in Arabia and Egypt. They appear in the markets preserved in brine or sun- 

 dried and are even exported as an article of commerce. Some authorities claim that it is the 

 insect which St. Matthew (III. 4) refers to when he says " John's meat was locusts and wild 

 honey " and in Leviticus (XI. 22) we find that locusts constituted a common food among the 

 Jews. 



