Thf markci price of the wax in < 'hm-thtii is about 91. per hundred- 

 weight, baring continuously fallen of late year.-. It is said that 20 

 years ago the price was as hi<jh as 70/. pin- <-wt., but this seems quite 

 incredible. There can be no doubt that the depreciation is consequent 

 upon the enormous import of kerosene oil ; but Cliu»t}-I;i)t<i merchants 

 persuade themselves that it should be attributed to the invention of gas 

 and its introduction into Shanghai. 



(Signed) E. Colborne Baber. 



Chung-king, 10th June 1879. 



Note. — The places mentioned above will be found in the map attached 

 to my " Travels and Researches in Western China," published by the 

 Royal Geographical Society. It will be useless to look for them 





Insect White Wax. 



The subject of Insi 



3Ct white wax may be briefly 





I.— The Insect Tree. 

 II.— The Insects. 

 III.— The Wax Tree. 

 IV.— The Wax. 



Ins ( rt Tn 



of Ssu-ch'u 



as the c/i'ini;/ ,shi< [" Insect 'five ""] and the Tmuj vVintj shu [" Winter 

 (Ireeu" or •' Evergreen Tree "J, while in the east of the province it is 

 generally calh-d the I'ao-hn-lsno [-Crackling Flea Tree"] owing, as 

 Mr. Baber has explained, to the sputtering of the wood when burned. 

 It is probably the Lujustrmn /milium { ?] of the botanist ; but the 

 specimens I am forwarding to Kew will decide this point. Although 

 it is found scattered about the whole of Ssu-ch'uan, its chief habitat is 

 the valley ofNingyuan Fu or Chien-ch'ang in the west oi the province. 

 It is an evergreen with leaves which spring in pairs from the 1 ranches. 

 They are thick, dark green, glossy, ovate, and pointed. In the end of 

 May or beginning of June the tree bears clusters of small white flowers 

 place to small seeds of a dark blue colour. 



In the month of March 1883 I passed through the Chien-ch'an^ 

 valley; but, knowing that Mr. Baber had already reported on the 

 subject <»f win!.' wax. I confined myself to a mere cursory examination 

 of the insect tree. In this month 1 found attached to the bark of the 



n various stages of development. In the earlier stages they 



like minute univalves clinging to the bark. The larger galls 



readily detachable, and when opened, presented either a whitey 



