COLOUE- PRODUCING INSECTS. 41 



tin is used with kermes dye, as with cpchineal, 

 the kermes is capable of imparting a scarlet quite 

 as brilliant as that produced by the cochineal itself, 

 and to all appearance more permanent. But on the 

 other hand we know that one pound of cochineal 

 contains as much colouring matter as ten or twelve 

 pounds of kermes. However, we are told that it 

 was with the latter insect that the Greeks and 

 Romans produced their crimson, and from the same 

 source were derived the imperishable reds of the 

 Brussels and other Flemish tapestries. Cochineal 

 has supplanted kermes, and the latter is now only 

 cultivated by some of the poorer inhabitants of the 

 countries in which it abounds, more particularly 

 in India and Persia, and by the peasantry of 

 southern Europe. - 



Another species of kermes, the Coccus polonicus, 

 Latr., sometimes known as the scarlet grain of 

 Poland, is very common in Poland and Russia. 

 Before the introduction of cochineal this insect 

 formed a considerable branch of commerce. In the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, and in many parts of Eng- 

 land the C. polonicus is found upon the roots of 

 SclerantJius perennis (perennial knarvel), a plant that 

 is not uncommon in Norfolk and Suffolk. The 

 colour which it furnishes is nearly as beautiful as 

 that of the cochineal, and capable of giving the 

 same variety of tints. The insect was formerly 



