138 



at 



persiug themselves in quest of food. It w_ 

 originally introduced into Europe along 

 with exotic plants from the warmer regiom 

 of Africa and America. 



It may be remarked of the Coccidce gene- 

 rally, that they are remarkable for their 

 powers of propagation, and that when they 

 once attack a plant or young tree, the minute 

 size of the larvte renders their extermination 

 a very difficult task. We were particularlj 

 struck with the observations of the Presideni 

 of the Entomological Society (G. Newport 

 Esq. F. R. S.) in his " Anniversary Address,' 

 1845 that so complete had been the ravages 

 of the Coccus of the orange-trees, that one o: 

 the Azores, the island of Fayal, lost its entin 

 produce from this cause alone. The usua. 

 exportation of fruit from Fayal had been 

 12,000 chests annually, but in 1843 not a 

 single chest was exported. This injury had 

 extended to St. Michael's ; and the inhabit- 

 ants of the whole of that group of volcanic 

 islands, depending almost entirely on the 

 produce of their orange-groves, and despair- 

 ing of retrieving their prospects, were fast 

 turning their attention to the cultivation oi 

 other objects of commerce. This amount of 

 injury to a whole population, by a diminu- 

 tive and apparently contemptible insect, was 

 the result of but three years I It was there- 

 fore with great reason that the President 

 laid some stress on the fact, and remarked, 

 that the effects of this insect on a single arti- 

 cle of luxury might fairly be adduced to show 

 that entomological inquiries are deserving of 

 full attention. They furnish, however, some 

 very_ important products : the bodies of many 

 species, being deeply coloured through their 

 whole substance, yield dies of great value, 

 the richness of which seems to depend upon 

 the nature of the plant upon which they 

 feed. 



By far the most important of all is the 

 Coccus cacti, or COCHINEAL CACTUS, so cele- 

 brated for the beauty of the colour which it 

 yields. This species is a native of South 

 America, and was for a long time exclusively 

 confined to Mexico, where it feeds on a species 

 of cactus. The female or officinal Cochineal 

 insect, in its full-grown pregnant or torpid 

 state, swells or grows to such a size, in pro- 

 portion to that of its first or creeping state, 

 that the legs, antennas, and proboscis, are so 

 small with respect to the rest of the animal 

 as hardly to be discovered by the naked eye ; 

 BO that on a general view it bears a great 

 resemblance to a seed or berry : hence arose 

 that difference of opinion which at one period 

 subsisted among writers ; some maintaining 

 that Cochineal was a berry, while others con- 

 tended that it was an insect. 



When the female insect is arrived at its 

 full size, it fixes itself to the surface of the 

 leaf, and envelopes itself in a kind of white 

 down, which it spins or draws through its 

 proboscis in a continued double filament. 

 The male is a small and rather slender two- 

 winged fly, about the size of a flea, with 

 jointed antenna and large white wings in 

 proportion to the body, which is of a red 

 colour, with two long filaments proceeding 

 from the tail. When the female insect has 

 discharged all its eggs, it becomes a mere 



husk, and dies ; so that great care is taken 

 to kill the insects before that time, to prevent 

 the young from escaping. The operation of 



collecting the insects, which is exceedingly 

 tedious, is performed by the women. " For- 

 merly," says Mr. M'Culloch, "it was in 

 Mexico only that it was reared with care, 

 and formed a valuable article of commerce ; 

 but its culture is now more or less attended 

 to in various parts of the West Indies and 

 of the United States. There are two sorts 

 or varieties of Cochineal : the best or domes- 

 ticated, which the Spaniards call gruna //mi, 

 or fine grain ; and the wild, which they call 

 grana sylvestra. The former is nearly twice 

 as large as the latter ; probably because its 

 size has been improved by the favourable 

 eflects of human care, and of a more copious 

 and suitable nourishment, derived solely 

 from the Cactus cochinellifer, during many 

 generations. Wild cochineal is collected six 

 times in the year ; but that which is cul- 

 tivated is only collected thrice during the 

 same period. The insects, of which there 

 are about 70,000 in a pound, being detached 

 from the plants on which they feed by a 

 blunt knife, are put into bags, and dipped 

 in boiling water to kill them, after which 

 they are dried in the sun. It is principally 

 used in the dyeing of scarlet, crimson, and 

 other esteemed colours. The watery infusion 

 is of a violet crimson ; the alcoholic, of a 

 deep crimson ; and the alkaline, of a deep 

 purple, or rather violet hue. It is imported 

 in bags, each containing about 200 Ibs. ; and 

 lias the appearance of small, dry, shrivelled, 

 rugose berries or seeds, of a deep brown, 

 purple, or mulberry colour, with, a white 

 matter between the wrinkles." 



COCK. (Gallus domesticus.) The com- 

 mon domestic Cock, the well-known cliief- 

 tain of the poultry-yard, is subject to in- 

 numerable varieties, scarcely two being found 

 to resemble each other exactly in form and 

 plumage. At what time this valuable bird 

 vas brought under the control of man, it 

 s now impossible to determine ; but, as the 

 "brests of many parts of India still abound : 



