i-xtivmc pressure on its space. They are now published, if somewhat 

 tardily, in recognition of the pains bestowed upon them by the able 

 officials who prepared tin-in. and also because in this form they will reach 

 the eye of many persons who perhaps would not obtain otherwi*« the 

 information they contain. 



The reports taken together supplement one another, and, as a whole, 

 irive an exhaustive account of one of the most curious industries in the 

 world. The tree on which the insect deposits its egg.s is undoubtedly 

 Litjiistnun h'ciiluhi. Ait., ot' this the specimens collected by Scott and 

 Hosie leave no doubt. According to Dr. Henry, in the Province of 

 liupfeh, ;il Ichang, Nan to, and the mountains to the northward, it is the 

 commonest evergreen tree, from 20 to 30 feet high. According to 

 Hance (Journ. Linn. Soc, xiii., p. 82) Ligustrinn ja/xniictn/i, Thunh.. 

 Dr. Bretschneider states, "on native authority, is used for rearing the 

 wax insect oil." This is an eastern species ; if used at all it is probably 



The tree on which the wax is produced i- an Ah which has usually 

 been referred to Frajintis eltincn.sis, Koxb. To this Mr. Ilemslev, in 

 the Index Flora Sinensis, refers the specimens collected by Cooper, 

 Hosie, and Scott. Roxburgh's species is not, however, wholly free 

 from ambiguity, and M. Franchet, who was consulted on the subject. 

 preferred to refer Hosie's specimens to Fru.vin"--. rln/m'itphylla, Hance. 

 He remarks, however, that the Chinese embrace under one name, 

 lY-la-shn. all the species of Frit.r'nius capable of supporting the 



species of ,\ Ax is dillieult and uncertain, and he reduces Hance's species 



The most extraordinary feature in the industry is the process, so 

 graphically described in the reports of transporting the eggs of the 

 Cmrns from the district where they are prodmvd to that in which the 

 wax is obtained. The nttiomih of rhis still seems obscure. Mr. Baber 

 states: — " No reproduction of the insect occur- in the Chia-tine- plain, 

 " because the twi-s of the trees a iv lopped off and ladled." But it is 

 not obvious why all should be boiled, and why nurseries should not be 

 maintained. A statement of Mr. Cooper's may perhaps supply the clue 

 to the explanation : — ~ The ins* cts owing to their loss ,.f fecundity, have 

 " to be renewed Tin Chekiaug; every third year, the e<_g pouches being 

 " imported f ; < nee of Fuh Kien." 



The industi- 

 will be l 

 preserved of it. In a Foreign Office Report [1892, No. 1,097] i 



'• mineral oil having no doubt s-ipplanted to some 



" lights. The crop was reported fair, but the price i 



" is very much less than that which it formerly ex 



" some years ago priced at 200 tads. Under the 



" bulk of the crop is retained for local use." 



as to the' details, 'in the Keu Museum, u, spec ,-ns of "ibota wax 

 obtained from Lit/nstrum Ibota, Sieb., which also occurs in China. 

 This is no doubt an ir.sect wax. the produce of a Coccus living on the plant. 



