1907-190S.] Galls^ Gall- makers, and Cuckoo Flies. 3 1 



the manufacture of ink are of this nature. Gall-making insects 

 show a marked preference for the oak, but some species select 

 the willow, poplar, and other trees ; others confine themselves 

 to various species of shrubby or herbaceous plants. The study 

 of galls opens up a singularly interesting chapter of natural 

 history : to the entomologist they offer an inviting field for 

 original research, for the botanist they have at least a patho- 

 logical significance; a knowledge of them is of practical use 

 to the forester, farmer, and gardener ; while their attractive 

 appearance in many instances is fitted to excite the curiosity 

 and admiration of every observant lover of nature. 



Galls present some analogy to warts and tumours, but while 

 these generally constitute a disfigurement, it is often otherwise 

 with galls. 



" The canker-blooms have f iill as deep a dye 

 As the perfumed tincture of the roses." 



A very pretty gall, which has the appearance of a tuft of 

 crimson-tinted moss, occurs on the branches of the wild rose : 

 robin's pincushion is the children's name for it. The marble 

 or Devonshire galls, which hang like clusters of nuts from the 

 branches of the oak, are not inelegant ; white or cream coloured, 

 the oak-apples or sponge-galls were formerly known as King 

 Charles's apples, from having been used for decorations on 

 Eestoration Day ; with its perfect form and golden lustre, the 

 silk-button gall growing on the under side of the oak leaf is 

 quite a charming object, while the currant-galls on the oak 

 catkins are also very attractive. Like the oyster, which mends 

 his shell with pearl, the oak, we might almost say, is indebted 

 to her wounds for her gayest ornaments, illustrating the saying 

 of Emerson, " Nature never spares the opium or nepenthe ; 

 but whenever she mars her creature with some deformity or 

 defect, lays her poppies plentifully on the bruise, and the 

 sufferer goes joyfully through life, ignorant of the ruin." 



When a foreign body obtains a lodgment in the tissues of an 

 animal it may give rise to inflammation, or it may be dissolved 

 and gradually absorbed ; these are nature's usual modes of 

 eliminating obnoxious matters. Where they are not available 

 another method is sometimes followed : the foreign particle is 

 allowed to remain, but is encysted or encased in hard sub- 



