Vol. XXviii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 387 



The first European reference appears to be that of Cleyer 

 (1682), who describes the material from the medical point of 

 view under the name U pot gii. 



Another early and more complete European account is that 

 given by Geoffroy (1724). He refers to the galls under the 

 Chinese name Oupeytse and says that commercially they are 

 known as "Indian ears." He had a notion that the galls formed 

 by aphids on elms might be the same as the Chinese galls. 



A rather extended account is given by Du Halde (1735),. 

 which is referred to by Brande (1817). He says that- the na- 

 tives of China pick the galls before frost and expose them to 

 hot water or steam in order to kill the insects. A 1770 English 

 translation of this work is referred to by Pereira (1844). The 

 Paris edition (1735) is not available to the writer, but he has 

 seen a Hague edition (1736) and the name is here spelled in 

 ihe French Oti-poey-tse. 



In Japan Ono ( 1802) described these galls under the name of 

 Mimibushi or Fiishi. He says they are hollow and contain 

 large numbers of minute insects. The powder of the dried 

 galls he states is used by Japanese women to blacken their 

 teeth. There may be earlier Japanese references, perhaps in 

 Japanese editions of Chinese Pen tsaos, but it has seemed a 

 needless task to search the literature for these. 



The first examination into the composition of the gall seems 

 to have been made by Brande (1817). The material he used 

 was marked Oong pocy and was used in dyeing black. He 

 made extracts of the galls and obtained twenty-five parts of in- 

 soluble woody matter. He suggests they could be used for 

 making writing ink. 



In 1844 Guibourt brought these galls again to the attention 

 of Europe, but considering them unknown, described them un- 

 der the name of the caiiliflozver gall. He had a dried specimen 

 in his own shop and fragments from a Mr. Ledanois. Ledanois 

 analyzed the material and obtained 60 per cent, of tannic 

 ' acid. This appears to be the first real analysis. At the same 

 time Pereira (1844) gave an excellent account under the name 

 of Woo-pci-tsse with quotations from the Pen tsao and a 



