NOTES OS GALLS. 183 



are heavy, but not so sightly as those of the Levant. The bloom generally 

 seen on the Levant galls is lost from the Indian in their transit. Dr. 

 Pereira considers this kind to be the produce of Persia and the neighbour- 

 ing parts. 



Assam Galls. — Galls have been received from Assam of a very dark 

 brown, almost black colour. The size and shape is that of large white 

 Turkish galls, each containing a hole through which the insect has escaped. 

 This orifice is larger than those of the Turkish galls. 



Apple Galls.— The large galls called indiscriminately Mecca, Bus- 

 sorah, or Apple galls, are produced by Cynips insana on the Quercus infectoria. 

 The Hon. R. Curzon states that the tree which produces them grows in 

 abundance on the mountains in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. These 

 are believed to be the far-famed mad apples {Mala insana), or apples of 

 Sodom (JPoma Sodomitica), mentioned by Josephus and other authors. 

 These galls are pear-shaped, sometimes round. Their size varies from that 

 of a large hazel nut to that of a small apple. Towards the middle or upper 

 part of the gall are one or more circles of small protruberances. In each 

 of the larger galls there is an aperture through which the insect escaped, 

 and in the centre there is a small round hole or nidus where it has lodged. 

 The substance of the interior is soft, spongy, and friable. To the taste it 

 is somewhat astringent, and scarcely bitter. The colour is of a rich or 

 warm brown, shining as if varnished. These galls are alone used in the 

 countries where they are produced for dyeing, and are more esteemed 

 there than common galls. The contain about 28 or 30 per cent, of tannin. 



Algerian Galls. — Galls are abundant in Algeria, on the evergreen oak 

 Quercus ilex, and serve to dye black. France had a consumption of this 

 article, in 1853, to the value of between 600,000 and 700,000 francs, and 

 Algeria could well supply it all. 



Knopperx. — These galls are produced by Cynips quercus calcycis, on the 

 cups of Quercus pedunculata and Quercus pubescens, in some parts of Europe. 

 They abound more in certain seasons than in others, and an abundant 

 harvest of Knoppern yields an immense revenue to the proprietor of the 

 forest thus affected. These galls were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 

 1855, and the exhibitor states that " they are found on a variety of the oak 

 called Quercus staynosa, which in- 

 habits valleys and damp marshy 

 places. Even on this tree they only 

 appear when the nights are warm 

 and rainy, and towards the end of 

 July and beginning of August. It 

 is then that the outer coat of the 

 acorn is softened and punctured by 

 the insect, and the heat of the sun kxoppekst. 



draws out the sap, which forms the curious excrescence shown in the 

 wood cut. The hotter the weather is, the larger are the Knoppern, and 

 the more easily do they drop to the ground, where they are regularly 



