122 INSECT MANUFACTURES. 



house, and I crept quietly to my room, where I 

 arranged my nopals, with inexpressible delight, in 

 the caskets I had purchased for that purpose." 



After innumerable difficulties and dangers this 

 traveller reached St. Domingo in safety, but with 

 only a small part of his insects living. These, 

 however, he was successful in rearing and multi- 

 tiplying until a flourishing nopalerie was esta- 

 blished. He found, by experience, that five or six 

 species of cactus opuntia will nourish these insects, 

 but that some are far more valuable than others. 

 He also proved that the colours of the flowers and 

 fruit of the plants, whether red, violet, yellow, or 

 white, did not in any way affect the colour of the 

 cochineal, nor indicate the greater or less aptitude 

 of the plant to nourish the insect. The thorny 

 species were less convenient on account of the 

 pain and annoyance to the hands of those who 

 managed the nursery ; but in some of these the 

 younger branches were nearly free from prickles. 



The terms nopalerie for the nursery, and nopal 

 for the plant, are preserved among the French 

 cultivators of cochineal, in remembrance of the 



