178 KERMES, OR THE SCARLET GRAIN OF COMMERCE. 



and other additions, is formed into a drink called " Subzee," which is 

 reported to be highly conducive to health. A stimulating infusion is 

 prepared from the plant in Scinde, which is said to promote appetite, 

 and is in great repute among the upper classes. The fruits of the 

 hemp plant, which are usually known as hemp seed, are oleaginous and 

 demulcent, but appear to be devoid of any narcotic principle. Their chief 

 use is for feeding cage birds. A serviceable oil is, however, expressed from 

 them, which is used for mixing paints, burning in lamps, and also in the 

 manufacture of soft soap. 

 Kew. 



KERMES, OR THE SCARLET GRAIN OF COMMERCE. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



Although cochineal and lac dye have now quite superseded the use 

 of kermes as a tinctorial substance in England, yet a short notice of this 

 dye-stuff is worth placing on record, for the information of those who may 

 not have facilities for referring to it, and are never, perhaps, likely to see 

 the insect product. There are several varieties of the insect {Coccus ilicis, 

 Linn.) named after the plant which they frequent. The insects were 

 long taken for the seeds of the tree on which they lived, and hence called 

 grains of kermes. The Coccus occurs as a parasitic insect, having all the 

 appearance of a berry or seed, exhibiting not the slightest indication of its 

 insect nature, being immovably affixed, in clusters, to the branches of the 

 oak (Quercus Coccifera) upon which it subsists, by introducing into the sub- 

 stance of the stem a long and delicate haustellum. The oak is a low, bushy 

 evergreen shrub, much resembling a holly in miniature. It is only at the 

 close of its existence, however, that the coccus assumes the form of a seed. 

 Although the insect is provided with two legs, and when young, possesses 

 locomotive powers, yet after impregnation, it greatly increases in size, and 

 the eggs are deposited beneath the body ; so that, by degrees, as the eggs 

 are excluded, the two surfaces of the body come together, and form a 

 covering for the eggs ; hence it will be observed, that it is only the females 

 which are collected for traffic ; the males, in the perfect state, being minute, 

 active, two-winged flies, totally unlike their insect-partners. 



In the natural state, the kermes are of a shining appearance, and of the 

 colour of a plum covered with a whitish bloom. In the condition in which 

 they are brought to market, they appear of a dull, reddish brown, which is 

 not, of course, the natural colour of good kermes, but is imparted to them by 

 steeping in vinegar. The inhabitants of the countries where these insects 

 are obtained, distinguish three stages in their existence. In the Provencal 

 language, the term " Le ver" is applied to them, when they are in the earliest 

 stage of activity; " Le ver couvee," subsequently in the month of April, when 

 they become stationary ; and " Le ver commence d'eclore" in the last stage, 



