SECTION I. 
SOURCES. 
By the puncture of a small insect, the Cynips Galina 
tinotorise, on the young buds of the small twigs of 
Quercus lusitanica, variety infectoria , there are depos¬ 
ited ova, around each of which rapidly forms a mass 
that in its perfected state becomes the gall, oak-gall, or 
nutgall of commerce. The small tree or shrub which 
furnishes these galls grows chiefly in Asia Minor and 
some of the other regions surrounding the Mediter¬ 
ranean Sea. 
The early history of galls is conveniently assigned 
to the ancients. Hippocrates administered them me¬ 
dicinally, and from the earliest times they were resorted 
to as a means of staining the hair black. Theophras¬ 
tus, Dioscorides, Pliny, and other writers mention the 
superiority of the galls from Syria. 
The most esteemed galls at the present time are those 
collected in Mesopotamia and shipped from Bombay 
to London. They are known in commerce as Levant 
galls. The best-known variety in this country comes 
under the name of Aleppo or Turkish galls. They are 
collected in the surrounding districts and taken to 
Smyrna, where they are sorted and shipped to various 
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