342 COCHINEAL. 
If this red bag is opened in October or November, 
a number of small oval eggs, or rather young grubs, 
amounting to twenty or thirty in number, will be 
found within it. As long as any of the led fluid 
remains, the young progeny continue within the 
bao’: but as soon as the whole of it is consumed they 
pierce a hole through the outer covering, and walk 
out one by one, leaving the empty nest behind 
them. They generally fix themselves so close to- 
gether (on account of their immense numbers) that 
scarcely more than one female in six has room to 
finish her cell ; the others die, and become the food 
of different insects. The branches of the trees to 
which they attach themselves suffer so much from 
the loss of sap, that they seem covered with a red 
dust, and the adjoining parts wither away. The 
natives who collect the lac break down these 
branches and carry them to market. 
This production in its natural state is called stick 
lac. After the cells are separated from the sticks 
and granulated, they are called seed lac. This melted 
by fire and made into cakes becomes the lump lac ; 
and the term shell lac is given to this substance after 
it has been liquified, strained, and formed into thin 
transparent plates. 
Before the discovery of America introduced to 
our notice the cochineal, we were indebted to an- 
other species of this genus, the Coccus ilicis, or 
kermes, for the most valuable scarlet dye then in 
use. This insect adheres to the shoots of the Quercus 
coccifera, or berry-bearing ilex, which is found very 
