592 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



pain of death, the exportation of the insect, and of the equally indigenous Nopal, or 

 Cactus cochinellifer. Cochineal is now produced in the Canary Islands, Java, and 

 Brazil ; but Mexico still furnishes the greater part produced. 



The Coccus which produces lac, or gum-lac, is a native of India, and thrives and 

 multiplies best on several species of the fig-tree. A cheap method having been dis- 

 covered within the last years of separating the coloring matter which it contains from 

 the resinous part, it has greatly increased in commercial importance. 



In the tropical zone we find that not only many birds and several four-footed ani- 

 mals live chiefly, or even exclusively, on insects, but that they are even consumed in 

 large quantities, or eaten as delicacies, by man himself. The locust-swarms are wel- 

 comed with delight by the Arab of the Sahara and the South African Bushman. After 

 being, partially roasted, they are either eaten fresh, or dried in hot ashes and stored 

 away. The natives reduce them also to powder or meal, which, eaten with a little 

 salt, is palatable even to Europeans ; so that Livingstone, who, during his residence 

 among the Bakwains, was often obliged to put up with a dish of locusts, says he 

 should much prefer them to shrimps, though he would avoid both if possible. They 

 evidently contain a great deal of nourishment, as the Bushmen thrive wonderfully on 

 them, and hail their appearance as a season of plenty and good living. The food of 

 John the Baptist was locusts and wild honey. 



Several of the large African caterpillars are edible, and considered as a great deli- 

 cacy by the natives. On the leaves of the Mopane tree, in the Bushman country, the 

 small larvse of a winged insect, a species of Psylla, appear covered over with a sweet 

 gummy substance, which is collected by the people in great quantities, and used as 

 food. Another species in New Holland, found on the leaves of the Eucalyptus, emits 

 a similar secretion, which, along with its insect originator, is scraped ofi" the leaves and 

 eaten by the aborigines as a saccharine dainty. 



The chirping Cicadce, or frog-hoppers, which Aristotle mentions as delicious food, 

 though maccaroni has long supplanted them in the estimation both of the modern 

 Greeks and of the Italians, are still in high repute among the American Indians. 

 With the exception of one species ( Cicada Anglica), these insects, equally remark- 

 able for the rapidity of their flight and their faculty of emitting a loud noise, are un 

 known in temperate zones. Several of the exotic species, when their wings are ex- 

 panded, measure six inches in extreme length — a size superior to that of many of the 

 humming-birds. The Goliath beetles of the coast of Guinea are roasted and eaten by 

 the natives, who doubtless, like many other savages, not knowing the value of that 

 which they are eating, often make a honne louche of what an entomologist would 

 most eagerly desire to preserve. 



The Chinese, who allow nothing edible to go to waste, after unraveling the cocoon 

 of the silk-worm, make a dish of the pupae, which the Europeans reject with scorn ; 

 and the grubs of several insects which thrive and increase in the Sago-tree, the Areca, 

 and the Cocoa, are considered as great delicacies ; and many similar examples might 

 be cited. 



Several of the more brilliant tropical beetles are made use of as ornaments, not only 

 by the savage tribes, but among nations which are able to command the costliest gems 

 of the East. The golden elytra of the Sternocera chrysis and Sternocera sternicornis 

 serve to enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, while the joints of the legs are 



