THE COCHINEAL. 



823 



up in a membranaceous bladder, of the size 

 ot t p"a. s/uootii .i.iii shining, uf a browmsh- 

 red colour, and covered with a very fine ash- 

 coloured powder. This bag teems with a 

 number ot reddish eggs or insects, which be- 

 ing rubbed with the lingers pour out a crim- 

 son liquor. It is only met with in warm 

 countries in the months of May and June. In 

 the month of April this insect becomes of the 

 size ami shape of a pea, and its eggs some 

 time after burst from the womb, and soon 

 turning worms, run about the branches and 

 leaves of the tree. They are of two sexes, 

 and the (females have been hitherto described; 

 but the males are very distinct from the for- 

 mer, and are a sort of small flies like gnats, 

 with six feet, of which the four forward are 

 short, and the two backward long, divided 

 into four joints, and armed with three crook- 

 ed nails. There are two feelers on the head, 

 a line and a half long, which are moveable, 

 streaked, and articulated. The tail, at the 

 back part of the body, is half a line long, and 

 forked. The whole body is covered with 

 two transparent wings, and they leap about 

 in the manner of fleas. The harvest of the 

 kermes is greater or less in proportion to the 

 severity of the winter, and the women gather 

 them before sun-rising, tearing them off with 

 their nails, for 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 acquire a red 

 colour. 



An insect, perhaps still more useful than 

 either of the former, is the Cochineal, which 

 has been very variously described by authors: 

 some have supposed it a vegetable excres- 

 cence 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 ap- 

 pear in our shop* when brought from Ameri- 

 ca, they are of an irregular shape, convex on 

 one side, and a little concave on the other: 

 but are both 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-col ;iir. 

 which are accounted the best, and are 

 brought us from Mexico. The cochineal in- 

 sect is of an oval form, of (ho size of a small 

 pea, with six feet, and a suout 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 an- 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 difference, that the wild feeds 

 upon uncultivated trees, without any assist- 

 ance, whereas the domestic is carefully, at a 

 stated season, removed to cultivated trees, 

 where it feeds upon a purer juice. Those 

 who take care of these insects, place them 

 on the prickly-pear plant in a certain order, 

 and are very industrious in defending them 

 from other insects; for if any other kind 

 come among them, they take care to brush 

 them off with foxes' tails. Towards the end 

 of the year, when the rains and cold weather 

 are coming on, which are fatal to these in- 

 sects, they take off the leaves or branches 

 covered with cochineal, that have not attain- 

 ed their utmost degree of perfection, and 

 keep them in their houses till winter is past. 

 These leaves are very thick and juicy, and 

 supply them with sufficient nourishment, while 

 they remain within doors. When the milder 

 weather returns, and these animals are about 

 to exclude their young, the natives make 

 them nests, like those of birds, but less, of 

 tree moss, or soft hay, or the down of cocoa- 

 nuts, placing twelve in every nest. These 

 they fix on the thorns of the prickly-pear 

 plant, and in three or four days' time they 

 bring forth their young, which leave their 

 nests in a few days, and creep upon the- 

 br.mches of the plant, till they find a proper 

 place to rest in, and take in their nourish- 

 ment ; and until the females are fecundated 

 bv the males, which, as in the former tribe, 

 differ very widely from the females, being- 

 winged insects, whereas the others only 

 creep, and are at most stationary. When 

 they are impregnated, they produce a new 

 offspring, so that the propagator has a new 

 harvest thrice a year. When the native 

 Americans have gathered the cochineal, they 

 put them into holes in the ground, where they 

 kill them with boiling water, and afterwards 

 dry them in the sun, or in an oven, or lay 

 them upon hot plates. From the various 



