30  Cochineal  Production  in  Cent,  America.  {AMjan0T;i873ARM' 
tals  of  sulphate  of  ammonia.  After  a  few  minutes  the  liquid  will 
become  a  pasty  mass :  this  is  filtered,  and  not  a  trace  of  sulphate  of 
quinia  is  found  in  the  filtrate. — Chern.  News,  Nov.  8,  from  Bull.  Soc. 
€him%,  Paris. 
COCHINEAL  PRODUCTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA* 
The  insect  is  preserved  during  the  winter  upon  branches  cut  off  from 
the  cactus,  and  ranged  in  long,  narrow  buildings,  called  almacenes, 
erected  for  the  purpose.  The  roof  of  these  buildings  is  from  a  yard 
to  a  yard  and  a-half  wide,  and  for  the  first  six  weeks  the  front,  which 
is  open,  is  covered  with  a  screen  made  of  cotton  cloth,  to  protect  the 
young  insect  from  a  sort  of  fly  that  lays  an  egg  among  them,  which 
in  a  few  days  turns  into  a  caterpillar,  and  does  a  great  deal  of  mis- 
chief, devouring  a  large  quantity  of  the  young  animals  ;  after  that 
period  they  are  left  open  to  the  sun  and  air.  It  is  so  arranged  that 
the  insects  begin  to  breed  in  the  beginning  of  October,  about  which 
time  the  rains  cease  in  Amatitlan,  though  somewhat  later  in  the  vi- 
cinity and  most  other  parts  of  the  State.  The  insect  is  carefully  re- 
moved from  the  cactus  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  deposit  its  young,  and 
put  into  small,  square  pieces  of  muslin,  calico,  or  the  bark  of  a  de- 
scription of  palm-tree,  the  latter  being  cheaper  and  much  more  pre- 
ferable for  the  month  of  October,  as  it  does  not  fall  together  when 
damp,  like  a  cotton  fabric.  The  four  corners  are  pinned  together 
with  the  thorn  of  a  bush  (a  species  of  Mimosa),  which  is  very  abun- 
dant in  the  neighborhood.  After  about  a  hundred  of  the  insects  have 
been  put  in,  one  of  these  packets,  called  by  the  natives  cartuchc,  is 
attached  to  each  leaf  or  two,  or  one  to  each  side  between  two  leaves, 
which  latter  method  is  generally  preferred.  If  the  weather  is  fine 
and  warm,  the  insect  breeds  so  quickly,  that  in  a  few  hours  each  leaf 
contains  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  small  insect,  when  the  bag  must 
be  removed  and  attached  to  another  leaf;  for  if  it  is  left  too  long,  the 
leaf  becomes  too  thickly  covered  with  young  insects,  which,  from  being 
so  numerous  cannot  obtain  nourishment,  and  never  attaining  the 
proper  size,  produce,  when  dried,  a  small  grained  and  very  inferior 
cochineal  called  granilla,  which  is  not  worth  more  than  half  the  price 
of  the  proper  quality.  As  the  cactus  is  always  planted  in  rows  of  a 
certain  length,  it  is  usual  to  cover  at  one  time  the  leaves  of  one 
or  more  rows  with  the  bags  containing  the  mother  insect,  and 
*  Abridged  from  the  Journal  of  Applied  Science. 
