326 DIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 



larva state feeds upon a plant like the privet, strewing 

 upon the stem a powder, which when collected forms the 

 wax a . But as he merely states that this powder was 

 " supposed'" to form it, and does not himself appear to- 

 have made the experiment of dissolving it in oil ; and as 

 no Cicada yet known produces any similar secretion ; it 

 is most probable that his information was incorrect, and 

 that Grosier's statement is the true one. 



This probability is nearly converted into certainty by 

 the fact that many Aphides and Cocci secrete a wax-like 

 substance, and that a kind of wax very analogous to the 

 Pe-la, and of the same class with bees-w T ax, only con- 

 taming more carbon, is actually produced in India by a 

 nondescript species of Coccus remarkable for providing 

 itself with a small quantity of honey like our bees. This 

 substance, for specimens of which I am indebted to the 

 kindness of Sir Joseph Banks, was first noticed by Dr. 

 Anderson, and called by him white-lac. It could be ob- 

 tained in any quantity from the neighbourhood of Madras, 

 and at a much cheaper rate than bees-wax : but the ex- 

 periments of Dr. Pearson do not afford much ground 

 for supposing that it can be advantageously employed in 

 making candles 5 . De Azara speaks of a firm white wax 

 apparently similar, and the produce of an insect of the 

 same tribe, which is collected in South America in the 

 form of pearl-like globules from the small branches of 

 the Qiiabiramy, a small shrub two or three feet high c . 



Insects in some countries not only furnish the natives 

 with wax but with resin, which is used instead of tar for 



a Embassy to China, i. 400. b Phil. Tram. 1794, xxi, 



c Voyage dans V Amcr. Mend, \. 164, 



