﻿95 
  

  

  Madras, 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  Indian 
  article 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  useless 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  can- 
  

   dles, 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  the 
  Chinese, 
  which 
  is 
  used 
  for 
  this 
  purpose. 
  It 
  far 
  

   excels 
  also 
  the 
  vegetable 
  wax 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  (Myrica 
  cerifera). 
  

  

  " 
  Is 
  this 
  substance 
  a 
  secretion 
  ? 
  There 
  are 
  Chinese 
  who 
  regard 
  it 
  as 
  such 
  ; 
  some 
  

   representing 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  saliva, 
  and 
  others 
  the 
  excrement 
  of 
  the 
  insect. 
  European 
  

   writers 
  take 
  nearly 
  the 
  same 
  view 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  best 
  authorities 
  expressly 
  say 
  that 
  this 
  

   opinion 
  is 
  incorrect, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  is 
  changed 
  into 
  wax. 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  be- 
  

   lieve 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  undergoes 
  what 
  may 
  be 
  styled 
  a 
  ceraceous 
  degeneration, 
  its 
  whole 
  

   body 
  being 
  permeated 
  by 
  the 
  peculiar 
  product, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner 
  as 
  the 
  Coccus 
  

   Cacti 
  is 
  by 
  carmine.* 
  

  

  " 
  It 
  costs 
  at 
  Ningpo, 
  from 
  twenty-two 
  to 
  thirty-five 
  cents 
  per 
  pound. 
  The 
  annual 
  

   products 
  of 
  this 
  humble 
  creature 
  in 
  China, 
  cannot 
  be 
  far 
  from 
  400,000 
  fbs." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hanbury 
  added, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  harder 
  than 
  bees'-wax 
  and 
  that 
  its 
  fusing 
  point 
  

   was 
  about 
  184*^ 
  Fahr. 
  ; 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  imported 
  into 
  this 
  country 
  and 
  employed 
  for 
  

   making 
  candles 
  and 
  other 
  purposes, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  too 
  expensive 
  to 
  be 
  generally 
  useful. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Westwood 
  remarked 
  that 
  the 
  insects 
  were 
  the 
  wingless 
  females 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  

   of 
  Coccus, 
  which, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  their 
  short 
  legs, 
  were 
  wholly 
  permeated 
  with 
  

   the 
  secretion 
  of 
  wax. 
  He 
  proposes 
  to 
  call 
  the 
  species 
  C. 
  Sinensis. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Westwood 
  exhibited 
  the 
  following 
  species 
  of 
  CoccidiB, 
  all 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  resem- 
  

   bling 
  the 
  insect 
  under 
  notice, 
  in 
  producing 
  colouring 
  or 
  waxy 
  matter. 
  Coccus 
  Ilicis, 
  

   from 
  the 
  South 
  of 
  Europe; 
  Margarodes 
  Formicarum, 
  the 
  ground 
  pearl 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  

   Indies 
  ; 
  Coccus 
  manniparus, 
  from 
  Mount 
  Sinai 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  species 
  from 
  Manilla. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hanbury 
  also 
  exhibited 
  a 
  Chinese 
  print 
  of 
  the 
  tree, 
  the 
  insects, 
  and 
  the 
  

   masses 
  left 
  on 
  the 
  plants 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  Cocci 
  are 
  propagated. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Douglas 
  read 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  communication 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  ' 
  Gardeners' 
  Chronicle 
  ' 
  a 
  

   short 
  time 
  since, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Fortune, 
  on 
  the 
  insect 
  in 
  question. 
  

  

  " 
  Sir 
  George 
  Staunton 
  observed 
  an 
  insect 
  of 
  this 
  description 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Cochin 
  

   China, 
  'busily 
  employed 
  upon 
  the 
  small 
  branches 
  of 
  a 
  shrub 
  then 
  neither 
  in 
  fruit 
  nor 
  

   flower, 
  but 
  its 
  general 
  habit 
  bearing 
  somewhat 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  privet;' 
  writers 
  

   generally 
  call 
  this 
  plant 
  Ligustrum 
  lucidum 
  ; 
  yet 
  M. 
  S. 
  Julien 
  who 
  has 
  intimate 
  know- 
  

   ledge 
  of 
  the 
  written 
  language 
  of 
  China, 
  says, 
  that 
  the 
  wax 
  insects 
  are 
  stated 
  to 
  be 
  

   raised 
  on 
  three 
  species 
  of 
  plants, 
  namely, 
  Ligustrum 
  glabrum, 
  Rhus 
  succedanea, 
  and 
  

   a 
  species 
  of 
  Hibiscus, 
  (Comptes 
  Reudus, 
  1840). 
  But 
  I 
  now 
  possess 
  evidence 
  which 
  

   goes 
  a 
  long 
  way 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  another 
  plant, 
  difierent 
  from 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  above, 
  is 
  the 
  

   true 
  white-wax 
  tree 
  of 
  Central 
  China. 
  Before 
  leaving 
  China 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  honour 
  of 
  

   receiving 
  from 
  the 
  French 
  Consul 
  at 
  Shanghae, 
  two 
  small 
  trees, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

   brought 
  down 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Catholic 
  missionaries 
  from 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  Sychuen. 
  I 
  

   cannot 
  see 
  how 
  any 
  mistake 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  made, 
  as 
  the 
  tree 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  as 
  common 
  

   in 
  that 
  province, 
  as 
  the 
  tallow-tree 
  is 
  at 
  Che 
  Kiang. 
  I 
  am 
  happy 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  one 
  of 
  

   these 
  plants 
  has 
  reached 
  this 
  country 
  in 
  good 
  condition, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  at 
  the 
  Exotic 
  

   Nursery 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  Knight 
  and 
  Perry 
  at 
  Chelsea. 
  It 
  appears 
  very 
  like 
  an 
  ash, 
  but 
  

  

  * 
  " 
  In 
  a 
  memoir 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Philosophical 
  Transactions 
  ' 
  for 
  1848, 
  Mr. 
  B. 
  C. 
  Brodie 
  

   states, 
  that 
  although 
  in 
  appearance 
  this 
  substance 
  resembles 
  slearine 
  or 
  spermaceti 
  

   more 
  than 
  bees'-wax, 
  it 
  comes 
  nearest 
  to 
  purified 
  Ceriji 
  .' 
  " 
  

  

  