THE LAC COCHINEAL THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL. 501 



serves only as a kind of shell or covering, under which the eggs are 

 concealed. Others, though they are likewise thus fixed, preserve the 

 form of insects, till they have laid their eggs and perish. A kind of 

 down or cotton grows on their belly, which serves for the formation 

 of the nest, in which they deposit their eggs. 



The males are very different in their appearance from the females. 

 They are furnished with wings, and are small but active insects. 



Most of the species of Coccus, which infect our green-houses and 

 conservatories, have been brought over, with exotic plants, from other 

 dimates. 



THE LAC COCHINEAL. 



Around the edges of their body they are environed with a sub- 

 pellucid gelatinous liquid, which seems to glue them to the branch. 

 The gradual accumulation of this liquid at length forms a complete 

 cell for the insect. The insect is now, in appearance, an oval, smooth, 

 red bag, without life, about the size of a small American Cochineal 

 insect, emarginated at the obtuse end, and full of a beautifully red 

 liquid. 



These insects, which, in the East Indies have the name of Gum Lac, 

 are principally found on the trees of the uncultivated mountains on 

 both sides of the Ganges, where nature has been so bountiful, that, 

 were the consumption many times greater than it now is, the markets 

 would be fully suppled. The only trouble is in breaking down the 

 branches and carrying them to market. 



Stick Lac is the natural state of this production. When the cells 

 are separated from the sticks, broken into small pieces, and appear in 

 a granulated form, they are called Seed Lac. This, liquified by fire 

 and formed into cakes, is Lump Lac. When the cells are liquified, 

 strained, and formed into thin, transparent laminae, the substance has 

 the name of Shell Lac. 



Of Shell Lac the natives of Eastern countries make ornamental 

 rings, to decorate the arms of females. They also form it into beads, 

 necklaces, and other female ornaments. This substance was formerly 

 used in medicine, but it is now confined principally to the making of 

 sealing-wax, and to japanning, painting, and dyeing 



THE AMERICAN COCHINEAL. 



This Cochineal, so useful to painters and dyers, is a native of South 

 America, where it is found on several species of Cactus, particularly 

 the Cactus Opuntia or Prickly Pear-tree. In Jamaica these insects are 

 also now tolerably common, but they are generally understood to have 

 b***n introduced from America. The heavy rains, however, to which 

 tne \V est India islands are subject, often render the industry of the 

 natives in breeding and rearing them entirely fruitless. 



