coc 



COG 



arc, according to Gmelin, nearly 200 spe- 

 cies, distinguished, 1. into those whose 

 shells are red or yellow, with black dots : 

 2. shells red, with yellow dots : 3. shells 

 red or yellow, spotted with white : 4. 

 shells yellow, spotted with red. They all 

 feed, both in their larva and complete 

 state, on the aphides or plant-lice, and 

 are very serviceable in purifying 1 vege- 

 tables of the myriads with which they are 

 often infested. 



COCCOCYPSELUM, in botany, a ge- 

 nus of the Tetrandria Monogynia class 

 und order. Natural order of Stellate. 

 Rubiaceae, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 calyx four-parted, superior; corolla fun- 

 nel-form ; berry inflated, two-celled, 

 many seeded. There is but one species ; 

 viz. C. repens, a native of Jamaica. 



COCCOLITE? in mineralogy, a species 

 of the flint genus, of a green colour; oc- 

 curs in large, coarse, and small granular 

 distinct concretions; it is hard, scratches 

 glass, and gives sparks with steel ; spe- 

 cific gravity 3.3 ; it is infusible without 

 addition ; with carbonate of soda it mel's 

 into an olive green, vesicular, slag-gy 

 glass; and, with borax, into a pale-yel- 

 low, semi-transparent glass; its constitu- 

 ent parts are, 



Silica 42 



Alumina 15 



Calcareous earth . . 13 



Oxide of iron ... 8 



Manganese . . . . 14 



Water . 3 



95 



COCCOLOBA, in botany, a genus of 

 the Octaridna Trigynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Holoraceae. Polygonese, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : calyx five- 

 parted, coloured; corolla none; berry 

 calycine, one seeded ; drupe. There are 

 fourteen species. 



COCCULUS tndici/s,the name of a poi- 

 sonous berry, supposed to be used by 

 brewers in their malt liquors ; particular- 

 ly in porter, to give it an intoxicating qun- 

 lity. But as the use of it is forbidden by 

 the laws of the land, it would be unfair 

 to impute the practice of it to any re- 

 spectable house. 



COCCUS, in natural hi story, a genus of 

 insects of the order Hemiptera. Generic 

 character : snout pectoral ; abdomen 

 bristled behind : wings two, upright in 

 the males: females wingless. There are 

 about fifty species ; extremely fertile and 

 troublesome in hot-houses and green- 



houses ; the male is very active ; the fe- 

 male has a body nearly globular, and is 

 slow, inactive, and fixed to different parts 

 of pi ants. The most important species 

 is the coccus.cacti, or cochineal coccus, 

 celebrated for the beauty of the colour it 

 yields wlien properly prepared. It is a 

 native of Sou.h Amerca, and feeds on 

 the cactus opuntia. The female, or offi- 

 cinal cochineal insect, in its full grown or 

 torpid state, swells or grows to such a 

 size, in proportion to that of its first or 

 creeping state, that the legs, antennae, 

 and proboscis are so small, with respect 

 to the rest of the animal, as hardly to be 

 discovered, except by a good eye, or with 

 the assistance of a glass ; so that on a ge- 

 neral view it bears as great a resemblance 

 to a seed or berry as to an animal. 



When the female cochineal insect is 

 arrived at its full size, it fixes to the sur- 

 face of the leaf, and envelopes itself in a 

 white cottony matter, which it is suppos- 

 ed to spin or draw through its proboscis, 

 in a continued double filament, it being 

 observed, that two filaments are fre- 

 quently seen proceeding from the tip of 

 the proboscis in the full grown insect. 

 The male is a small and rather slender 

 dipterous fly, about the size of a flea, 

 with jointed antennae, and large white 

 wings in proportion to the body, which 

 is of a red colour, with two long filaments 

 proceeding from the tail. It is an active, 

 lively animal, and is dispersed in small 

 numbers among the females, in the pro- 

 portion of one male to 15U female?. 

 When the female has discharged all its 

 eggs, it becomes a mere husk, and dies : 

 so that great care is taken to kill the in- 

 sects before that time, to prevent the 

 young from escaping, and thus disap- 

 pointing the proprietor of the beautiful 

 colour. The insects, when picked or 

 brushed off" the plants, are killed by the 

 fumes of heated vinegar, or by smoke, 

 and then dried, in which state they are 

 imported into Europe. It is said the 

 Spanish government is annually more en- 

 riched by the profit of the cochineal 

 trade, than by the produce of all its gold 

 mines. Cochineal is used in the large 

 scale by dyers, and it is the fine colour so 

 much esteemed in painting, known by 

 the name of carmine : when properly 

 mixed with hair-powder, it is what ladies 

 use as rouge. 



C. ilicis, or kermes, is a species adher- 

 ing, in its advanced or pregnant state, to 

 the shoots of the quercus coccifera, un- 

 der the form of smooth reddish-brown 

 grains or balls, of the size of small peas. 

 The tree or shrub grows plentifully in 



