ON INSECTS AND MARINE ANIMALS. 97 



the dyers, and because I omitted to mention it 

 in my first lecture on Insects. The cochineal is 

 extensively cultivated in Mexico, and when the 

 Spaniards conquered that country in 1518, they 

 found the fine dye procured from this insect, but 

 supposed for a long time afterwards that it came 

 from a very small seed; for such they thought 

 it to be in consequence of its singular appear- 

 ance. It was only from its being examined 

 under a microscope that its true nature was as- 

 certained. The insect, when imported into this 

 country to be used as a dye, has the appearance 

 of a reddish shrivelled grain covered with white 

 powder. It feeds on what is called the Indian 

 fig, a species of cactus, commonly called the 

 prickly pear ; but in Mexico, where the cochi- 

 neal is most cultivated, the hopal. In that 

 country, plantations of the hopal may be seen in 

 lines of fifty or sixty thousand, each plant being 

 kept about four feet high for more easy access 

 in collecting the insect. Great care is required in 

 this operation, which is performed by the Indian 

 women with a squirrel's or stag's tail. When the 

 insects have been collected they are killed, either 

 by throwing them into boiling water or by placing 

 them in ovens; and these latter bear a higher 



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