154 THE BEE, OR Jan. 16 » 



than is paid for cohineal imported from the Spanifh Main? 

 He profecuted this thought with the ufual ardour ; but a 

 little time, and fome accurate experiments, fatisfied him 

 that this infc6l could not be made to anfvver xhe fame pur- 

 pofes with the true cochineal in dying ; and the fartiier pur- 

 iuit of that infecl was given up. 



But in the courfe of his inquiries,^ in confequence of a 

 very extenlive correfpondence througn all the territories of 

 India, he difcovcred no lels than fix dlfFerent animals of the 

 coccus clafs in diifcrent parts of thofe regions, which he has 

 defcribed with ^reat accuracy in a feries of letters to Sir 

 Jofeph Banks and others, printed at Madras, but not for 

 lale, and has fpecified tlie plants on which they relpectively 

 feed. As it is well known that all the animals of this clafs 

 afford juices that llain woollen goods of a permanent' dye, it 

 is probable, that, in future times, thefe inquiries may lay the 

 foimdajtion of fcveral ufeiul difcoverles in arts. 



In the mean while. Dr. Anderfon wris aftive in his re- 

 fearches to difcover the Callus Cochinilifer, which is called 

 Nopal in America-, on which plnnt alone the tr^e American 

 cochineal is reared : But a'fter the mod (liligent fearch, it 

 could not be found in either the Britilli, French, or DutcU 

 fettlcmrnts In India. Chance, however, made him dlfcover- 

 it in China. From thence it was brought to Madras, where 

 it was cultivated with care, and profoered abundantly. 

 Another plant of the Spaniih nopal was obtained from Ma- 

 nilla ; a third from the Cape of Good Hope ; and a fourth 

 from the King's garden at Kew, by the intervention of Sir 

 Joleph Banks ; all of which arrived fafe at Madras, and 

 proved to be exactly the fame plant. The EalVlndia Com- 

 pany, on being informed of thefe facts by Sir fofeph Banks, 

 very ealijy perceived the advantages that might accrue to 

 this country from the cultivating of this article in their fet- 

 tlements in India, and gave orders for a garden to be laid 

 out in the neighbourhood of Madras, under tl:e eye cf Dr. 

 Anderfon, to ferve as a nopalary, or nurfery of nopal plants, 

 from whence the natives cgn be fupplied willi what number 

 , tliey mav want. Meafures have been alfo adopted for fend- 

 ing out thfe true cochinenl infeft thither, w hich are no doubt 

 arrived there before this time, and where there Is no realbn 

 to fufpeft they will not profper abundantly : And on ac- 

 count of the furpriiing chtapnefs of labour by the T^mnili, 



