No. 614] THE USES OF INSECT GALLS 



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Cynips gallje-tinctobije Olivier 

 The gall of Cynips gallce-tinctorice Olivier, known in 

 commerce as the Aleppo gall, Turkey gall, Levant gall, 

 gall-nut, gall of commerce and ink marble, is found in 

 eastern Europe, that is, in Hungary, Turkey and Greece, 

 and in western Asia, on Quercus (Bgilops, Quercus infec- 

 toria, Quercus pedunculated and possibly Quercus humilis. 

 This gall as an article of commerce has had the longest 

 history, having been used from the time of the ancient 

 Greeks to the present ; has been used for the greatest va- 

 riety of purposes ; and has been considered as the richest 

 of all the galls known to the Western World. 



Medicine.— The earliest use of this gall was in medicine 

 in which capacity it was known to the Greeks and to the 

 Romans. In Greece it was recorded as of medical value 

 by Hippocrates in the fifth century b.c. and then by Theo- 

 phrastus, third century b.c. Its use by the Romans was 

 treated at some length by Pliny, who stated that twenty- 

 three remedies were compounded of gall-nuts, and that 

 among the diseases for which they were used were ulcera- 

 tions of the mouth, affections of the gums and uvula, 

 malformed nails, hang nails, etc., and that for the relief 

 of toothache and burns the inner part of the gall should 

 be chewed. 



From these early days until very recent times authors 

 of Materia Medica have included this gall-nut as a drug, 

 designating it as "the most powerful of vegetable strin- 

 gents." In modern times it has been used in Europe as 

 a cure for fevers and was especially popular in France 

 early in the eighteenth century. At that time Poupart in 

 Mem. Ac. Sci., 1702, made a report on it which proved it 

 to be of doubtful efficacy. Nevertheless its use was con- 

 tinued and as late as 1849 Pereira, in London, listed it as 

 useful for medical purposes, recommending it as a tonic 

 in intermittents, an astringent in hemorrhages, a chemical 

 antidote, a topical astringent and giving a list of six 

 medicines concocted from it. At the present time gall 



