HRMIPTRRA. 



t:J3 



during the winter, and placed in dozens, in nests made of cocoa-nut 

 fibres, or in little plaited baskets made of the leaves of the dwarf 

 palm, and hung on the prickles of the cactus. These are very soon 

 covered with young larvse. The only thing now required to be done 

 is to shelter them from wind and rain. (Plate IV.) 



The larvae are changed into perfect insects, which take up their 

 abode permanently on the branches of the cacti, as Fig. 93 repre- 

 sents. The Mexicans gather them as soon as they have reached the 

 perfect state. The harvest cannot be difficult, considering the 

 immobility of these little creatures. When collected, the cochineals 

 are killed, packed in wooden boxes, and sent to Europe, to be used 

 in dyeing. 



Such is the method, very simple, as we see, of rearing the cochi- 

 neal^a method which has been followed for centuries in Mexico. 

 Towards the end of the year 1700, a Frenchman named Thierry de 

 Menouville, formed the project of taking this precious insect away 

 from the Spaniards, and of bestowing it upon the French colonies. He 

 landed in Mexico, and concealed so well the object of his voyage, 

 that he managed to embark and carry to St. Domingo several cases 

 containing plants covered with living cochineals. Unfortunately, a 

 revolution which had broken out at St. Domingo prevented him from 

 succeeding in his praisewortliy endeavours. The cochineals died, 

 and the Spaniards preserved their monopoly in the rearing of this 

 insect. 



In 1806 M. Souceylier, a surgeon in the French navy, succeeded 

 in bringing from Mexico into Europe some live cochineals. He 

 gave them to the professor of botany at Toulon ; but this attempt to 

 preserve them was unsuccessful. 



In 1827 the naturalisation of the cochineal was attempted in 

 Corsica, but widiout success. During the same year the cochineal 

 was introduced into the Canary Islands, but the inhabitants did not 

 understand the importance of the experiment. They counted the 

 cochineal among the number of noxious insects, and tried in all 

 ways to rid themselves of it. It was only after results obtained by 

 some more intelligent farmers, that the inhabitants of the Canary 

 Islands perceived the profits they might derive. From that time its 

 cultivation was extended, and after the year 1831 it increased 

 rapidly. Thus, the cochineal imported from the Canary Isles in that 

 year amounted to only 4 kilogrammes. In 1832 the amount was 60 

 kilogrammes, in 1833 it was 660 kilogrammes, in 1838, 9,000 kilo- 

 grammes, and in 1850, 400,000 kilogrammes. The French colonists 

 in Algeria also tried to raise it. In 1831, M. Limonnet, a chemist of 



