2 
“ The followiag description of the Chinese wax 
insect is from Pereira’s ‘ Materia Medica’ : — 
‘“Insect Wax of China, Pe-la. 
“ ‘ Upon the authority of Sir Gk Staunton, the 
insect from which Chinese wax was derived was 
considered to be a cicada , and described as 
cicada or Jlata limbata. Recent researches 
have, however, shown that the wax insect is 
a species of coccus, called Coccus Sinensis. This 
insect is reputed to feed on the Ligustrum 
lucidum , but this is doubted by Mr. Fortune. 
He assigns the place to some species of ash 
(fraxinus). The wax insect is chiefly found 
in the province of Sze-tchuen. In form it is 
not unlike the oval wood-louse. The crude wax 
is deposited by the insects around the 
branches of the tree on which they feed, 
and a white soft fibrous velvety coating 
of from one to two-tenths of an inch 
in thickness. The deposit therefore takes place 
under circumstances very similar to those in 
which lac resin is met with. According to Dr. 
Macgowan, the annual product of this insect 
in wax is about 400,000 pounds. At Ningpo, 
the wax costs from Is. to Is. 6d, per pound. 
“ ‘Mr. Hanbury states that in 1846 V three 
tons of this wax were imported into London. It 
fetched only Is. 3d. per pound, a price too low 
to be remunerative. It is used by the Chinese 
a9 a medicine, &c., &c.’ 
“ Japan wax, now an article of trade, 
is said to be produced from a plant, Rhus 
succedanea , which is cultivated by the Ja- 
panese in their gardens. I suspect that this 
wax is, however, the secretion of a coccus 
also. Many insects of this i rder excrete a fluid 
rich in sugar, which is mostly eaten by ants 
that attend upon the insects for that purpose. 
This may be seen on plants infested by aphis 
scale, coccus, and hoppers. 
“ In some cases the fluid is not saccharine, as 
the froth of hoppers. These insects in bright 
sunny weather cause a constant shower of drops 
to fall from the trees they inhabit. 
“ In some cases aphis and scale insects cause 
drops of honey to fall on the surface of leaves, 
forming what is called honey dew. It is on the 
surface of leaves thus coated that a black fungus 
grows which feeds on the sugar. When the 
sugar is exhausted the fungus dies, and is 
washed off by the rains, leaving the leaves un- 
injured. I have been able to grow this fungus 
on glass smeared with a solution of coccus sugar. 
“ It is interesting to watch the ant9 tending a 
species of hopper that lives on the tea tree. 
These hoppers excrete a large globule of 
honey, which is immediately seized by the jaws 
of an ant, and is carried off a short distance to 
be swallowed. This insect being large, it is 
easy to observe everything with the naked eye. 
“In some honey-excreting insects the sugar 
crystalizes on the body of the insect, forming 
a grain of sugar of irregular shape. This keeps 
increasing until it falls off from its weight. 
From a large scale insect on one of the euca- 
lypti, 1 have been able to collect a quantity of 
this crystallized sugar. The crystals are needle 
shaped. Fermentation takes place in a solution 
of it. 
“ This constitutes the manna found in many 
parts of Australia, which is said to be formed 
by a winged insect. 
“ I have evaporated the sweet excretion of a 
winged hopper, common here, and produced 
acicular crystals of sugar. 
“ For the following interesting account of 
this manna, I am indebted to Dr. Dennett’s 
book : — 
“ ‘ The Australian manna examined by Dr. T. 
Thompson and Professor Johnson, was found 
to differ in many of its properties from Euro- 
pean mannas, and was ascertained to contain a 
species of sugar resembling, and yet different 
from, mannite ; the latter gentleman removes it 
by his formula altogether from mannite, and 
brings it into the class of true sugars, contain- 
ing hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion to 
form water, and further establishes its isomerism 
with grape sugar, from which, however, it 
manifestly differs in its properties. This is 
considered to be secreted from the tree, as I 
have stated in my ‘ Wanderings in New South 
Wales.’ But there is another saccharine secre- 
tion observed in various parts of Australia, and 
also in Tasmania, resembling a fluid exudation 
upon the leaves, different from that before- 
mentioned, and possessing, when dried, a regular 
crystallised structure. It is the Lerp of the 
natives, and is found principally covering the 
leaves of the mallee tree ( Eucalyptus dumosa) in 
the southern districts of Australia, forming 
small conical cups, covered externally with 
white hairs, curled in various directions. This 
substance has been ascertained to be secreted by 
an insect of the genus Psylla ; and it has been 
mentioned as ‘ very 'nutritive, the natives sub- 
sisting upon it, and becoming fat during the 
season in which it is found ; it adheres with 
very little tenacity to the leaves, and is imme- 
diately washed off by a shower of rain.’ 
“Although the taste of Lerp is saccharine, 
the sweetness appears to be confined to the 
hairs j the cup, separated, being only slightly 
mucilaginous. 
“ An excellent account and analysis of these 
substances were published by Dr. i . Anderson, 
in the ‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 
for July, 1849.’ 
“ ‘ The beak of the Tettigonia is hard and 
horny, and constitutes an apparatus for per- 
forating the bark and sucking the juices of trees. 
It has been asserted that it bores the manna- 
tree of Australia {Eucalyptus viminalis , 
Labill), causing the manna to exude, whilst 
