46 



THE OAK. 



Another insect of tlie same genus {Cynips) 

 deposits its eggs at the base of the trunk, imme- 

 diately above the root. In the early spring of the 

 last year, 1845, I detected two galls formed by 

 this species in Merthen Wood, Cornwall. The 

 larger was about as big as a walnut, and produced 

 in April sixty small flies, much resembling winged 

 ants. They were not very active during their 

 early existence, and possessed the remarkable 

 instinct, common to many other insects, of coun- 

 terfeiting death when touched. 



The galls of commerce, I may here remark, are 

 similar in their nature to those already mentioned. 

 They are produced by a dwarf species of Oak 

 {Querciis infectoria), which rarely attains the 

 height of six feet, growing in Asia Minor and 

 Persia, The insect which occasions this gall is of 

 a pale colour, and maybe often found in the galls 

 sold in the shops of di^uggists. The latter vary 

 greatly in the quahties on account of which they 

 are employed; those which still contain the insect, 

 and are knoTNii by the name of black, blue, or 

 green galls, being the best : while those from 

 which the insect has escaped, which are called 

 w^hite galls, do not contain more than two-thirds 

 of the astringent qualities of the former. They 

 are used for making ink, for dyeing, and for 

 medicinal purposes. 



Evelyn, who \\Tote in 1664, gives the follomng 

 account of them : — Pliny affirms that the galls 

 break out all together in one night, about the 

 beginning of June, and arrive to their full growth 

 in one day ; this I should recommend to the ex- 

 perience of some extraordinary vigilant woodman, 

 had we any of our Oaks that produced them, Italy 



