AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 417 



substitute for it. The Cochineal insect is only crimson because 

 it feeds on Cactus; if it fed upon a different plant, it would, 

 doubtless, be of a different color. 



There is this distinction between the crimson of the prickly 

 pear and that of the Cochineal ; the former is elaborated by natu- 

 ral, the latter by artificial means. What change the sap of the 

 cactus (for it is upon the green leaf that Cochineal feeds) under- 

 goes by the deglutitive and digestive process of the insect, to 

 render the animal dye superior to that of the vegetable, I am 

 unable to say; but supposing the Cochineal to be superior to the 

 juice of the prickly pear, in what consists that superiority 1 cer- 

 tainly not in the brilliancy of the color. It must consist, then, 

 in the permanency of the dye. If it be so, it would not, I ap- 

 prehend, be very difficult to fasten the color of the prickly pear 

 by some chemical process not injurious to the fabric. The prickly 

 pear is not an unwholesome fruit — the juice of it would, there- 

 fore, be very useful in confectionary, to color jujubes, bon-bons, 

 and the various preparations of sugar; and also in cookery, to 

 give either" a rich glowing crimson or a delicate roseate tint to 

 jellies, blanc-manges, ices, and such like dainties. 



The honest wine merchant, also, might find his account in it. 

 It would communicate to his vin de-Bordeaux or Chambertin, of 

 the Philpot-lane vintage, or grown in the rural solitudes of Far- 

 ringdon without or Bishopsgate within, a hue far more preferable 

 and more wholesome than that of logwood, of which the world is 

 becoming somewhat weary. 



R. TEMPLE. 



J\'ote by H. Meigs. — With regard to the color which is so rich 

 in the prickly pear when ripe, I showed to the Farmers' Club, 

 several years ago, a Cactus, whose pears were as green as the 

 leaves — but upon dissection, an artery leading from the root of 

 the Cactus to the pear, was found full of the Cochineal crimson 

 fluid as red as blood, and being in quantity sufficient to fill the 

 pear. I had supposed that the color was formed in the pear. 



WINTER FOOD OF STOCK. 



Dr. Waterbury, the proposer of the question, proceeded 

 with a general view of the uses and effects of food, &c. He 

 stated that the process of nutrition is the same in other animals 

 as in the liuman. After birth, all further development depends 

 upon the food. Col. Pratt, a large tanner who used many horses, 



[Am. Inst.] 27 



