312 THE LAC COCHINEAL. 



oval eggs, or rather young grubs, are to be found 

 within the red fluid of the mother. When this fluid 

 is ail consumed the young insects pierce a hole 

 through the external covering, and walk off one by 

 one, leaving their nidus behind This nidus is that 

 whire membranaceous substance found in the empty 

 she] is of the Stick Lac. 



r j hese insects are found on only four different kinds 

 of trees, the principal of which are the Ficus religi- 

 osa and Ficus Indica of Linnaeus. 



The) generally fix themselves in such numbers, 

 and so *. !c se to each other, that scarcely more than 

 one female in six has room to complete her cell : the 

 others aie, and become the food of various insects. 

 The extreme branches of the above trees appear as 

 if they were covered with a red dust, and their sap 

 is frequently so much exhausted that the adjoining 

 parts wither away. — The sap of the trees seem much 

 allied to the cA\ of the Coccus, so that it appears to 

 have undergone very little change by its formation 

 into these shells. 



Ihese insects, which in the East Indies have the 

 name oi 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 supplied. The 

 only trouble is in breaking down the blanches and 

 carrying them to market. 



The price in the year 178 1 of Gum Lac in Dacca 

 was only twelve shillings for the hundred pounds, 

 weight, notwithstanding its being brought from a 



