160 HISTORY OF 



fear there should be any loss from the hatching 

 of the insects. They sprinkle them with vinegar, 

 and lay them in the sun to dry, where they ac- 

 quire a red colour. 



An insect perhaps still more useful than either 

 of the former is the Cochineal, which has been 

 variously described by authors. Some have sup- 

 posed it a vegetable excrescence from the tree 

 upon which it is found ; some have described it 

 as a louse, some as a bug, and some as a beetle. 

 As they appear in our shops when brought from 

 America, they are of an irregular shape, convex 

 on one side, and a little concave on the other ; 

 but both are marked with transverse streaks or 

 wrinkles. They are of a scarlet colour within, 

 and without of a blackish red, and sometimes of 

 a white, reddish, or ash colour, which are account- 

 ed the best, and are brought to us from Mexico. 

 The cochineal insect is of an oval form, of the 

 size of a small pea, with six feet, and a snout or 

 trunk. It brings forth its young alive, and is 

 nourished by sucking the juice of the plant. Its 

 body consists of several rings* and when it is once 

 fixed on the plant it continues immoveable, being 

 subject to no change. Some pretend there are 

 two sorts, the one domestic, which is best, and 

 the other wild, that is of a vivid colour ; however, 

 they appear to be the same, only with this diffe- 

 rence, that the wild feeds upon uncultivated 

 trees, without any assistance, whereas the domes- 

 tic is carefully, at a stated season, removed to cul- 

 tivated trees, where it feeds upon a purer juice. 

 Those who take care of these insects place them 



