614 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



make use of the tail of the rabbit, 

 brushing most gently with it, that 

 they may detach the insects from 

 the leaves, without doing them 

 any hurt. On every leaf they 

 make three nests, and in every 

 nest they lay about fifteen cochi- 

 neals. Every year there are three 

 gatherings, with a reserve, how- 

 ever, each time, of a certain num- 

 ber for the future generation ; but 

 the last gathering is the least va- 

 lued, the cochineals being then 

 smaller, and mixed with the shav- 

 ings of the opuntia. They kill 

 the cochineal most commonly 

 with hot water. On the manner 

 of drying it afterwards, the qua- 

 lity of the colourwhich is obtained 

 from it chiefiy depends. The best 

 is that which is dried in the sun. 

 Some dry it in the comilla, or pan 

 in which they bake their bread of 

 maize. Others dry it in the te* 

 mezcalli, or Mexican vapour-bath, 

 which is usually built of raw 

 bricks, in the form of ovens for 

 baking bread ; its greatest diame- 

 ter is about eight feet, and its 

 greatest height six feet. The en- 

 trance, like the mouth of an oven, 

 is wide enough to allow a man to 

 creep easily in. In the place op- 

 posite to the entrance, there is a 

 furnace of stone or raw bricks, 

 with its mouth outwards, to re- 

 ceive the fire, and a hole above it 

 to carry off the smoke. Cochi- 

 neal, when it has been garbled, 

 will produce, in Europe, from 

 twenty shillings to thirty shillings 

 per pound. 



Among the water insects of 

 Mexico, the atetepitz is a marsh 

 beetle, resembling in shape and 

 size the beetles that fly ; it has 

 four feet, and is covered with a 

 hard shell. The atepinan is a 



marsh grasshopper, of a dark co- 

 lour, about six inches long, and 

 two broad. The ahuihuilla is a 

 worm of the Mexican lake, four 

 inches long, and of the thickness 

 of a goose-quill ; it stings with 

 its tail, which is hard and poison- 

 ous. 



For the excellence, variety, and 

 plenty of its timber, Mexico is 

 equal to any country in the world. 

 Besides oaks, firs, pines, cypresses, 

 beeches, ashes, hazels, poplars, 

 palm trees, and many others com- 

 mon in Europe, there are entire 

 woods of cedars and ebonies ; the 

 two woods which were the most 

 valued by the ancient Indians. 



There is an abundance of agal- 

 loco, or wood of aloe, which pro- 

 duces a most delightful odour, 

 especially when it is fresh cut. 

 Camote, also a wood of a most 

 beautiful purple. Grandillo, or 

 red ebony, of a dark red colour. 

 Guayacan, or lignum vitae, well 

 known in Europe for its hard- 

 ness. The palogateado; the 

 caoba, or mahogany, and a va- 

 riety of others, odorous, orna- 

 mental, and useful. 



In Mexico there are upwards 

 of two hundred species of trees; 

 numbers of which are prodigious 

 in their height and thickness. In 

 the capital, as well as in other 

 places, there are very large tables 

 to be seen, made of cedar, con- 

 sisting of one single piece, and in 

 some of the houses there are beams 

 of cedar which measure upwards 

 of forty English yards long. 



His excellency Don Fernando 

 Lorenza, who was at that time 

 archbishop of Mexico, and was 

 afterwards archbishop of Toledo, 

 in Old Spain, attests in his anno- 

 tations, printed in Mex.ico, in the 



