THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 29 



for the ink which flows from the pen to record our every 

 Ihouglit or discovery we are indebted to one of the structures 

 popularly known as galls ; and several others there are for 

 which our merchantmen ransack China and Japan, India and 

 Africa, that are now variously used in commerce. Some, on 

 the other hand, are so templing, in appearance at least, that, 

 though they are never likely to usurp the place of more 

 wholesome and palatable fruit, are nevertheless, as it ap- 

 pears, eaten with avidity by those who find nothing better 

 within their reach. In the ' Fifth Report on the Noxious 

 and other Insects of the State of New York,' Dr. Fitch, in 

 speaking of one of the American galls, observes that " their 

 luscious aspect excites the children in many neighbourhoods 

 all over the country to gather and eat them. A school- 

 teacher who was employed in Michigan, in a school-house 

 which was surrounded with shrub-oaks which were loaded 

 with these galls, informs me that for many days the pupils at 

 every recess were filling their pockets with them, and eating 

 them almost incessantly, yet without ill effects therefrom iu 

 any instance." But to return to these button galls from the 

 pheasant's crop, it would be well worth while, for those who 

 are in a position to do so, to make such observations as shall 

 determine the cause of their being deposited there, for it is 

 only by an accumulation of facts that we can establish any- 

 thing with certainty. These galls were found in the crop of 

 a pheasant : the question that arises next is, Are they found 

 in the crops of other birds ? — then follows the question, Do 

 birds pick up these galls as food, and, if they do, do they 

 yield them any nutriment ? These are interesting and im- 

 portant points for investigation, and, if pursued, will lead to 

 similar inquiries respecting other galls, and not only in 

 reference to their alimentary uses, but in many various ways. 

 Nearly all their peculiar properties have yet to be ascertained. 

 And if the blue gall of commerce imparts so inimitable a 

 black dye, why may not the hundreds of other galls produce, 

 under proper chemical manipulation, kindred dyes, which, 

 for anything we know, may far exceed all the beauty of the 

 aneline lines, and it is possible, as they easily may, much 

 exceed them in permanency. Here is a wide and unexplored 

 field for observation and experiment. Let your readers, 

 some of them, take the hint. Let them test the properties 



