404 THE BEETLE-KIND. 



size, colour, and shape ; but all are endowed with i 

 corrosive quality, which, upon being applied to the 

 person, produces an exquisite degree of pain ; yet they 

 are allowed to be extremely efficacious when any sti- 

 mulus is wanted to be produced. 



An insect of great, though perhaps not equal use in 

 medicine, is known by the name of the kermes, and is 

 produced from an egg hatched in the excrescence of 

 an oak, called the berry-bearing ilex : the female of 

 these insects resembles a small worm ; but the male 

 has the appearance of a gnat or fly. They are only to 

 be met with in warm countries; and are in the highest 

 state of perfection in the months of May and June. 



The cochineal is an insect which has given rise ta 

 various conjectures : some have thought it a vegetable 

 excrescence; others have described it as a louse, some 

 as a beetle, and others as a bug. The cochineal insect 

 is a native of America, of an oval form, about the size 

 of a small pea; it brings forth its young alive ; and 

 the natives, considering them as a valuable trading 

 commodity, make small nests for their reception, and 

 place them upon the prickly pear-tree. When taken, 

 they are placed in holes in the earth ; a quantity of 

 boiling water poured upon them, and then dried in the 

 sun : they are said to be used in various medicines ; 

 but they are still more valuable to dyers, for producing 

 a beautiful red. 



The gall insects, though not properly belonging to 

 the tribe of beetles, cannot be mentioned in a more 

 applicable place : they are not fruit, as some have ima- 

 gined, but preternatural tumours, owing to the wounds 

 given to the buds, leaves, or twigs of a tree, by an in- 

 sect which lays its eggs within ; and, the heart of the 

 bud being thus wounded, the circulation of the juice 



