LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 3 
Gum lac, of which sealing-wax is made, is 
produced by a winged ant; and cochineal, of 
which there is so great a consumption, is an 
insect which multiplies very fast. Even the 
ink I now write with, I principally owe to an 
insect which forms the galls of which it is made ; 
but one of the most ancient and singular uses 
ever made of the labour of insects, is that of 
ripening figs in the Greek islands, and other 
Eastern countries, where the harvest of that fruit 
is of great consequence to the people. They 
plant two kinds of fig-trees, the wild and the 
cultivated sort. The wild tree bears fruit many 
times in the year, and in them grubs are born, 
which turn to flies. These flies are considered 
necessary to the ripening of the garden figs, 
which generally fall before their maturity, if 
these insects do not pierce them at the proper 
time. In the months of June and July, the 
country people gather wild figs, and stringing 
them on straws or sticks, place them on the 
garden fig-trees. They take great care every 
evening to look for the wild figs ready for gather- 
ing, that is, when a fly is ready to come out, and 
also, to observe when the other trees are pro- 
perly ripe ; for if the transfer is not made at the 
right time, the garden figs will fall. This custom 
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