6 MR. E. E. BURDON ON THE 



found not only in English but also in French, German, and Russian scientific 

 records describing the insects under this name. The Ooccid genus is, I 

 believe, quite as widely known under the name of Kermes. The genus Psylla, 

 on the other hand, is certainly better known under that name than under 

 Chermes, and even though this latter name may be the correct one according 

 to the rules of priority, I would protest strongly against its adoption in view 

 of the hopeless confusion which would infallibly result from such a step. 



It is not my purpose to enter into the question as to which genus — Aphid, 

 Coccid, or Psyllid — should rightly be called Chermes. My object is merely to 

 explain how the confusion between the Aphid Chermes and the Coccid Kermes 

 appears to have originated. 



To do this it is necessary to hark back to ancient history, where frequent 

 references are found to an important trade which was carried on in certain 

 " berries " collected from a species of Oak, and valued on account of the 

 brilliant scarlet dye they produced. Thus in Dioscorides (2 a) a short account of 

 the trade is given under the heading " irepl kokkov /3a^iKri<;," and Pliny (26) 

 also mentions the " berry ^^ several times in his Natural History, using the 

 same name in a Latinized form, viz. '^ coccum.^^ The " berries " were pro- 

 cured from Asia, Africa, and various countries bordering the Mediterranean, 

 Spain being specially mentioned on account of her having at one time paid 

 tribute in them to Rome. Numerous references to similar passages in other 

 Greek and Latin authors might be added, but the above are sufficient to show 

 that the " berry " was well known in ancient times as the " coccum " of the 

 Oak, and that it was widely distributed all over the South of Europe. 



The Greeks and Romans were not acquainted with the real nature of the 

 " berry/^ which they imagined was a natural production of the Oak itself, 

 and Pliny specially mentions one kind which was valueless because it turned 

 to mao-gots ! The Persians, however, were probably aware of its animal 

 nature, for they called it by the name " kermes'^ or " kirmis," a word derived 

 from the Sanskrit "krimi^" which means a worm. 



The Persians apparently introduced both the insect (for the " berry " was 

 of course the insect now known as Coccus ilicis, L.) and the name into Arabia. 

 The Arabs in their turn carried the name into Spain, where, as we have seen, 

 the insect was found in abundance. 



The trade in Kermes lasted right on through the Middle Ages, and into 

 comparatively recent times, when the dye obtained from the Cochineal insect 

 {Coccus Cacti) supplanted the Kermes dye, and was in its turn supplanted 

 through the discovery of aniline dyes. 



The name Kermes, therefore, was commonly used in Spain for the insect, 

 and it spread thence into all the countries bordering the Mediterranean, 

 where the trade existed and the insect was consequently well known (3). 



The name was introduced into scientific nomenclature by Linnaeus (4). In 

 1740 he published the second edition of his ' Systema Naturae,' and we here 



