722 C O C 
Another infeft is found at the fame time upon the cac¬ 
tus, which is fuppofed to be a fpecies of ichneumon, that 
feeds upon the coccus or cochineal infeft ; but, it has 
only two wings. The larva, or caterpillar of this fly, in- 
linuates it (elf into the cotton with which the coccus is en¬ 
veloped, and is fcarcely diftinguifhable from the latter, 
except that it is a little more elongated, with fomewhat 
longer legs, and that the cotton does not Hick to it, 
whereas from the coccus it is with difficulty feparated. 
When this fly is prepared to change its fkin, it creeps out 
of the cotton upon the naked part of the leaf, increafes 
quickly in its bulk, and its colour changes from that of 
a bright red to a clear yellow, with rings of brownifh fpots 
about its body. In a few days it becomes torpid; but, 
foon afterwards, contracting its rings with violent agita¬ 
tion, it depolits a large globule of pure red colouring mat¬ 
ter $ after which it immediately hangs itfelf upon the 
prickles of the leaf, and becomes a chryfalis, out of which 
ifl'ues, fhortly, the perfect fly. From the circumftance 
of the colouring matter being depofited by this infeft, 
previous to its change into the pupa ftate, it might be 
inferred, that any other infeft, feeding on the fame plant, 
would be productive likewife of the fame colouring mat¬ 
ter. Yet the leaf itfelf conllantly gave out, while under 
examination by fir George Staunton, only a tranfparent 
gelatinous fluid, perfeflly colourlefs. The fruit, indeed, 
or fig of the caftus, when ripe, contains a fcarlet juice, 
which colours fome of the excretions of thofe who eat it. 
The profit to the Portuguefe at Rio de Janeiro, from 
the cochineal, is inconfiderable, owing to an error in the 
preparation. Twice or thrice a-week the flaves, appro¬ 
priated to this employment, go among the caftus plants, 
and pick off caref ully with a bamboo twig, lhaped fome¬ 
what into the form of a pen, every full-grown infeft they 
can find, with many not yet arrived to their perfeft ftate; 
the confequence of which is, that the plants are never 
half ltocked with infefts, many of the females being de- 
ftroyed before they have depofited their young. The na¬ 
tives of Mexico purfue a method very different. As 
foon as the periodical rains are over, and the weather is 
warmer, as well as drier, they fix, on the prickles of the 
caftus leaves, fmall parcels of the fineft mols, ferving as 
nefts to contain each ten or a dozen fuil-grown female 
infefts. Thefe, in the courfe of a few days, bring forth 
an innumerable tribe of young, fpreading themfelves 
over the leaves and branches of the plant, till they be¬ 
come attached to thofe (Jjots which they find moft favour¬ 
able for lupplying nutritious juice ; where, foon acquir¬ 
ing their full growth, they remain motionlefs, and then 
are gathered off for ufe ; a fufficient number being always 
left for the produftion of new broods. The infefts are 
foon converted into cochineal by a very Ample procefs ; 
but if, ‘ in corporal fufferance, the poor beetle feels a pang 
as great as when a giant dies,’ this procefs is not more 
Ample than it is cruel. The infefts, which are collefted 
in a wooden bowl, are thickly fpread, from thence, upon 
a flat dilh of earthen ware, and placed alive over a char¬ 
coal fire, where they are (lowly roafted until the downy 
covering difappears, and the aqueous juices of the animal 
are totally evaporated. During this operation the infefts 
are conllantly ftirred about with a tin ladle, and fome- 
times water is fprinkled upon them, to prevent abfolute 
torrefaftion, which would deftroy the colour, and reduce 
the in left to a coal; but a little habit teaches when to 
ftemove them from the fire. They then appear like fo 
many dark round reddifh grains, and take the name of co¬ 
chineal : prelerving fo little the original form of the infeft, 
that this precious dye was long known and fought in Eu- 
ropt before naturalifts had determined whether it was an 
animal, vegetable, or mineral, fubltance. The garden at 
Rio does nor, annually, produce above thirty pounds 
weight of this commodity j though by proper treatment, 
from the fame number of plants, ten times the quantity 
might be obtained. At Marica and Saquarima, both 
places contiguous to Cape Frio, are confiderable plants- 
C U S. 
tions of the caftus, which &rt prtpagateu eafily frorri cut¬ 
tings fet into the earth during the cold and rainy feafon, 
though they afterwards thrive leaft where excluded from 
the fun. The infedts breed and are collefted, in dry 
weather, from Oftober until March. The preparation 
of cochineal is encouraged by the trade being laid open, 
which had formerly been a monopoly to the crown of 
Portugal. In the annexed engraving we have delineated 
one of the leaves of the caElus cochen'tUiferi, with the coc¬ 
cus, or cochineal infeft, in its various ftages of propaga¬ 
tion. The white downy or cottony fubltance on the fur- 
face of the leaf, reprefents the egg and larvae ftate of 
the coccus. Fig. 16 and 17, fttew the male coccus infeftr 
of its natural fize; 18 and 19, the fame much magnified. 
The body of the infedl is of a bright red colour ; wings 
pale yellow; and the long filaments proceeding from 
the pofterior extremity of the body, are white and very- 
delicate. Fig. 20 and 21, (hew the female coccus the fize 
of nature, in two different ftages of its growth : the body 
is of a mahogany colour; the legs of a bright red. Fig. 
22, exhibits the firft Hate of the larvae or caterpillar of the 
ichneumon, fuppoled to feed on the coccus ; 23, the fame 
magnified; 24 and 25, the larvae of the fly in different 
views and magnitudes, juft before its change into the 
pupa ftate ; 26, the pupa or chryfalis; 27, the perfect fly 
much magnified.—See the article Cochineal. 
4. The coccus ilicis, or kermes infedl, inhabits the quer- 
cus coccifera, a fpecies of oak growing in the fouthern 
parts of Europe. M. Hellot, of the Fiench Academy of 
Sciences, lays it is found in the woods ot Vauvert, Ven- 
deman, and Narbonne; but more abundantly in Spain, 
towards Alicant and Valencia. It not only abounds in 
Valencia, but alfo in Murcia, Jacn, Cordcva, Seville, 
Eftremadura, la Mancha, and Serranias de Cuen5a; in 
all which places the kermes confequently abounds. In 
Xixona and Tierra de Relleu, in the diftridt called De let 
Gratia, the people of Valencia firft began to gather it, 
whofe example was followed all over Spain. It has fome 
years produced 30,000 dollars (5000I.) to the inhabitants 
of Xixona alone. 
Both ancients and moderns feem to have had very con- 
fufed notions concerning the origin and nature of the 
kermes ; fome confidering it as a fruit, without a jull 
knowledge of the tree which produced it; others taking 
it for an exchefcence formed by the punfture of a parti¬ 
cular fly, the fame as the common gall obferved upon oaks. 
Tournefort was among this number. Count A.arfigli, 
and Dr. Nifole, a phylician of Montpelier, made experi¬ 
ments and oblervations, with a view of further diicove- 
ries, but did not perfedlly fucceed. Two other phyficians 
at Aix, Dr. Emeric and Dr. Garidel, applied themfelves 
about the fame time, and with greater fuccefs ; for they 
dilcovered that the kermes was the body of an inleft, 
transformed according to the courle of nature. The 
progrefs of this transformation is to be confrdered at three 
different feafons. In the firft ftage, at the beginning of 
March, an animalcule, no larger than a grain of millet, 
fcarcely able to crawl, is perceived (licking to the branches 
of the tree, where it fixes itfelf, and loon becomes im¬ 
moveable; at this period it grows the moft, appearing to 
fwell and thrive with the luftenance it draws in by de¬ 
grees. This ftate of reft feems to have deceived the cu¬ 
rious obferver, as it then tefembles an excrefcence of the 
bark; during this period of its growth, it appears to be 
covered with a down/ extending over its whole frame 
like a net, and adhering to the bark; its figure is convex, 
not unlike a fmall floe; in fuch parts as are not quite 
hidden by this foft net-work, many bright (pecks are 
peVceived of a gold colour, as well as ftripes running 
acrofs the body from one fpace to another. At the fe- 
cond ftage, in April, its growth is completed; its (hape 
is round, and about the fize of a pea: it has then ac¬ 
quired more (Irength, and its down is changed into duft, 
and feems to be nothing but a hulk or a capfule, full of 
a reddifti juice, not unlike diicoloured blood. Its third 
ftate 
I 
