coc 
parts convex, and the lower fiat. Tlie in- 
sects of this genus are known by the name 
of lady-birds. C. septenipunclata, or se- 
ven-spotted lady-bird, is seen in every gar- 
den and field in tlie summer. It proceeds 
from a larva of a lengthened oval shape, 
with a sharpened tail, of a black colour, va- 
ried with red and white specks, and of a 
rough surface; it resides on various plants ; 
and changes to a short, blackisli, oval chry- 
salis, spotted with red, which gives birth to 
its beautiful inmate in the montlis of May 
and June. There are, according to Gme- 
lin, nearly 200 species, distinguished, 1. into 
those whose shells are red or yellow, with 
black dots : 2. shells red, with yellow dots : 
3. shells red or yellow, spotted with white : 
4. shells yellow, spotted with red. They 
all feed, both in their larva and complete 
state, on the aphides or plant-lice, and are 
very serviceable in purifying vegetables of the 
myriads with which they are often infested. 
COCCOGYPSELUM, in botany, a ge- 
nus of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and 
order. Natural order of Stellatae. Rubia- 
cese, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx 
four-parted, superior ; corolla funnel-form ; 
beny inflated, two-celled, many-seeded. 
There is but one species ; viz. C. repens, a 
native of Jamaica. 
COCCOLITE, in mineralogy, a species 
of the flint genus ; of a green colour ; oc- 
curs in large, coarse, and small granular dis- 
tinct concretions ; it is hard, scratches glass, 
and gives sparks with steel; specific gra- 
vity 3.3 ; it is infusible without addition ; 
with carbonate of soda it melts into an 
olive-green, vesicular, slaggy glass; and, 
with borax, into a pale-yellow, semi-trans- 
parent glass ; its constituent parts are. 
Silica 42 
Alumina 15 
Calcareous eartli 13 
Oxide of iron 8 
Manganese 14 
Water ■_3 
95 
COCCOLOBA, in botany, a genus of 
the Octandria Trigynia class and order. 
Natural order of Holoraceae. Polygonese, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx five- 
parted, coloured ; corolla none ; berry ca- 
lycine, one-seeded ; drupe. There are four- 
teen species. 
COCCULUS indicus, the name of a poi- 
sonous berry, supposed to be used by brew- 
ers in tlieir malt liquors, particularly in por- 
COC 
ter, to give it an intoxicating quality. But 
as the use of it is forbidden by the laws of 
the land, it would be unfair to impute the 
practice of it to any respectable house. 
COCCUS, in natural history, a geuus of 
insects of the order Heiniptera. Generic 
character: snout pectoral ; abdomen bristled 
behind ; wings two, upright in the males : 
females wingless. There are about fifty 
species , extremely fertile and troublesome 
in hot-houses and green-houses : the male is 
very active ; the female has a body nearly 
globular, arid is slow, inactive, and fixed to 
different parts of plants.. The most impor- 
tant species is the coccus cacti, or cochi- 
neal coccus, celebrated for the beauty ot 
the colour it yields when properly prepared. 
It is a rrative of Soutlr America, and feeds 
on the cactus oprrntia. The female or offi- 
cinal cochineal insect, in its full grown or 
torpid state, swells or grows to such a size, 
in propor tion to that of its first or creeping 
state, that the legs, antennaE, and proboscis 
are so small, with respect to the rest of the 
animal, as hardly to be discovered except 
by a good eye, or with the assistance of a 
glass ; so that on a general view it bears as 
great a resemblance to a seed or berry as 
to an animal. 
When the female cochineal insect is ar- 
rived at its full size, it fixes to tire sur- 
face of the leaf, and envelopes itself in a 
white cottony matter, which it is supposed 
to spin or draw through its proboscis, in a 
continrred double filament, it being ob- 
served, that two filaments are frequently 
seen proceeding from the tip of the probos- 
cis in the fidl-grown insect. The male is a 
small and rather slender dipterous fly, about 
the size of a flea, with jointed antennae, 
and large white wings in proportion to the 
body, which is of a red colour, with two 
long filaments proceeding from the tail. It 
is an active, lively animal, and is dispersed 
in small numbers among the females, in the 
proportion of one male to 160 females. 
When the female has discharged all its eggs, 
it becomes a mere husk, and dies ; so that 
great care is taken to kill the insects before 
that time, to prevent the young from es- 
caping, and thus disappointing the proprie- 
tor of the beautiful colour. The insects 
when picked or brushed off the plants, are 
killed by the fumes of heated vinegar, or by 
smoke, and then dried, in which state they 
are imported into Europe. It is said, the 
Spanish government is annually more en- 
riched by the profit of the cochineal tradp, 
than by the produce ef all its gold mines. 
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