SECRETIONS OF THE TETTIGIDiE. Ixxvii 



atque miilieres vetnlae qui strident." His uncompli- 

 mentary remarks on the latter sex probably were 

 evoked by the sarcastic couplet of the Khodian poet 

 Xenarchus, who, noting that the male Cicada only 

 sings, says — 



" Happy are Cicada's lives 

 Since they all have voiceless wives. 



"Nature denies the female Cicada a voice to teach our 

 women — 



Some of the Oriental Tcttigid^ secrete a kind of 

 semi-crystalline wax, in sufficient quantity to make it 

 worth collecting for commercial purposes. This animal 

 economy is common to the allied tribal divisions of 

 Aphidid^, Coccidae, and Psyllidas. 



The above insect-wax is formed by a Chinese species 

 of Fulgorina. The insects gorge themselves with the 

 sap of a certain tree, and eventually their internal 

 parts become converted into masses which encrust the 

 branches. These masses are melted over a slow fire, 

 and the substance is poured into cold water and washed. 

 The flakes are afterwards melted and run into cakes 

 of pearly whiteness, having a crystalline texture like 

 spermaceti. 



" Chinese wax," under the name of Ichang-pe-la, 

 has been experimented upon by the late Sir B. Brodie, 

 and he showed its theoretical interest to the scientific 

 chemist, through its containing one of the natural fatty 

 ethers. Subsequently I showed that, under oxidation, 

 it yields a new fatty acid, and also some of the other 

 little-known acids of the series, which are nevertheless 

 of great theoretical importance. 



Kirby and Spence, on the authority of Hardwick, 

 Lund, and others, state that ants in the tropical 

 regions of India and Brazil milk the larvae and pupae 

 of various species of Cercopis and llcmhvacis.* 



* WestwoocVs ' Introil. Mod. Clas. of Insects,' 234 — 434, vol. ii. 



