176 



COCHINEAL. 



although they employed that of the Evergreen oak or Ilex,* 

 called by the Arabians kermes, whence karmasinus, the 

 French cramoisi, and our crimson and carmine. The kermes 

 was used to dye scarlet, and was known to the Egyptians, 

 in the time of Moses, and to the Phoenicians, at even an 

 earlier period. The latter people termed it Thola or Tola, 

 the Greeks Coccus; from which name, and from the epithet 

 vermiculatum (given to it when it was ascertained to be the 

 produce of a worm), have sprung the Latin coccineus, the 

 French vermeil, and our cochineal and vermilion, f 



FREDERICK. 



What does our cochineal come from? 



Cactus Coccinellifer. 



MRS. F. 



It is an insect called Coccus cacti, or of the Cactus, because 

 it is parasitical upon that family of plants. It only exists in 

 Mexico, where the Spaniards found it employed as a dye, on 

 their arrival in 1518. It has ever since been one of the 

 greatest sources of wealth, and De Humboldt estimates the 

 value of its annual exportation at 500,000/. Although the 

 East India Company have offered 60,000/. to any one who 

 shall introduce the insect into India, they have hitherto been 

 unable to procure any, except the wild species from Brazil. 



* Coccus ilicis, i. e. of the ilex. 



t Kirby and Spence; Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, &c. 



