Nov. 2, i388.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS, 



459 



Natural ^tetorg* 



COCHINEAL INSECTS. 

 It is somewhat of a surprise to most of us to learn 

 that Cochineal Insects — which form a tolerably ex- 

 tensive family — are found in many parts of the world, 

 and that their value was at least partially known to the 

 ancients ; for one is rather apt to look upon them as 

 quite a modern discovery, and also to consider them as 

 strictly confined to certain specified districts of South 

 America. But although it is true enough that the 



name of Kokkos {Coccus), and the Persians and Arabians 

 by that of Kermes ; from which latter term, by a rather 

 curious series of transitions, our own word " vermilion " 

 is supposed to have sprung. With the dye obtained 

 from this insect were stained the Flemish tapestries, the 

 characteristic red colour being scarcely affected by the 

 action of time; and the Greeks and Romans also appear 

 to have employed it very largely both in their arts and 

 in their manufactures. It has also been suggested, and 

 with great show of probability, that to this same dye 

 was due the " scarlet "—or, as it should be, the crimson 

 — of the curtains of the Mosaic Tabernacle (Exodus 



Branch of Cactus with Cochineal Insects. 



cochineal of commerce does come principally from these 

 districts, and that Coccus cacti, the particular species from 

 which it is procured, is somewhat limited in its distribu- 

 tion, there are many insects belonging to the same genus 

 which yield a dye almost equally valuable, and which, 

 if cultivated in like manner, would probably bring in a 

 very good return for the labour and money expended 

 upon them. 



And some of these have been more or less extensively 

 employed for many centuries. Thus the red pigment 

 which can be obtained from Coccus ilicis, to be found upon 

 a small species of evergreen oak, and which is plentiful 

 alike in Southern Europe and in Northern Africa and 

 Asia, was largely used by the Phoenicians in dyeing 

 cloth even before the time of Moses, and was known by 

 the title of Thola, or Tola. The Greeks knew it by the 



xxvi. i, and xxxvi. 8). And even at the present day it 

 is held in great esteem both in India and in Persia. 



In Poland the place of this insect is taken by Coccus 

 polonicus, which is found upon the roots of Scleranthus 

 perennis, and which was at one time very greatly in 

 request in the factories of Lithuania. And the Polish 

 peasants use it even now, as do also the Turks and the 

 Armenians, the latter employing it both in dyeing wool 

 and silk, and also in staining the finger nails as an aid 

 to personal beauty. Coccus uva-ursi, too, when treated 

 with alum, has been employed for similar purposes, 

 while the Moors, in olden days, availed themselves oi 

 yet another species, which lives upon the roots of 

 Poterium sanguisorba. 



Since the discovery of C. cacti, however, the value 

 of all these has greatly diminished, the dye which they 



