COCCYGRIA. 
thus preventing, in a great measure, the adul- 
teration of the article. The quantity annually 
exported from South America is immense; the 
export value being not less than £500,000. In 
the Hast Indies, a very inferior kind has been 
reared, which produces a coarse scarlet dye. 
Hayti and Brazil have tried to encourage the 
propagation of this insect. 
Lac is a secretion from a species of coccus in- 
habiting India, where it is found in astonishing 
abundance. In its native state, not yet separ- 
ated from the twig on which it has been depo- 
sited, it is called stich-lac,; when separated, 
powdered, and the colouring matter washed 
from it, it is denominated seed-lac ; lump-lac 
when melted into cakes, and shell-lac when puri- 
fied and formed into thin lamine. Lac-lake is 
the colouring matter of stick-lac precipitated 
from an alkaline lixivium, by means of alum. 
COCCYGRIA. The wild olive, Venetian su- 
mach, or Rhus cotinus. See Sumacu. 
COCHINEAL. See Coccus. 
COCHLEARIA. See Scurvy-Grass. 
COCHLOSPERMUM. ‘Two species of lofty, 
evergreen, ornamental, tropical trees, of the or- 
der ternstroemiaceze. They were formerly com- 
prised in the genus bombax, but were constituted 
| aseparate genus by Kunth. They are natives of 
respectively India and Mexico; and, when ma- 
| ture, they have an average height of about 60 
feet. See the article BomBax. 
COCK. The well-known chieftain of the poul- 
try-yard, and rural announcer of the passage of 
time; whose shrill clarion, heard in the still 
watches of the night, inspires the invalid with 
cheering hopes of the coming dawn, and informs 
the way-worn traveller of his approach to the 
habitations of his kind; the appropriate emblem 
of vigilance, virility, warlike daring and gal- 
lantry: domesticated, but not subdued, he march- 
es at the head of his train of wives and offspring, 
with a port of proud defiance, not less ready to 
punish agression against his dependents than to 
assert his superiority upon the challenge of any 
rival. At what time this valuable species of 
pheasant was brought under the immediate con- 
trol of man, it is now impossible to determine ; 
but, as the forests of many parts of India still 
abound with several varieties of the cock in the 
wild or natural condition, it is quite reasonable 
to conclude that the race was first domesticated 
in the eastern countries, and gradually extended 
thence to the rest of the world. It is stated that 
the cock was first introduced into Hurope from 
Persia; and Aristophanes speaks of it as the 
“Persian bird.” Nevertheless, it has been so 
long established throughout the western regions, 
as to render it impossible to trace its progress 
from its native wilds. 
The cock has his head surmounted by a notch- 
ed, crimson, fleshy substance, called comb: two 
pendulous fleshy bodies of the same colour, termed 
watiles, hang under his throat. The hen has also 
I. 
833 
a similar, but not so large nor so vividly coloured 
excrescence on her head. The cock is provided 
with a sharp horn or spur on the outside of his 
tarsus, with which he inflicts severe wounds; 
the hen, instead of a spur, has a mere knot or 
tubercle. There is, in both sexes, below the ear, 
an oblong spot, the anterior edge of which is red- 
dish, and the remainder white. The feathers 
arise, in pairs, from each sheath, touching by 
their points within the skin, but diverging in 
their course outwards. On the neck, they are 
long, narrow, and floating; on the rump, they 
are of the same form, but drooping laterally over 
the extremity of the wings, which are quite 
short, and terminate at the origin of the tail, 
the plumes of which are vertical. In the centre 
of the cock’s tail are two long feathers, which 
fall backwards in a graceful arch, and add great 
beauty to the whole aspect of the fowl. It is in 
vain to offer any description of the colour of the 
plumage, as it is infinitely varied, being in some 
breeds of the greatest richness and elegance, and 
in others of the simplest and plainest hue, Ex- 
cept in the pure white breeds, the plumage of 
the cock is always more splendid than that of 
the hen. We cannot contemplate the cock, when 
in good health and full plumage, without being 
struck with his apparent consciousness of per- 
sonal beauty and courage. His movements and 
gestures seem all to be influenced by such feel- 
ings, and his stately march and frequent trium- 
phant crowing express confidence in his strength 
and bravery. The salacity of the cock is exces- 
sive, and one is known to be quite sufficient for 
the fecundation of 10 or 15 hens. His sexual 
powers are matured when he is about six months 
old, and his full vigour lasts for about three 
years, varying in earliness of maturity and dura- 
tion with his size and the climate. 
or changed her plumage, and is not at the trouble 
of making a regular nest. A simople hole, scratch- 
ed in the ground, in some retired place, serves 
her purpose, and she generally lays from 12 to 
15 eggs before she begins to sit upon them for 
the purpose of hatching. Having thus taken 
possession of her nest, she becomes a model of 
enduring patience, remaining fixed in her place 
until the urgency of hunger forces her to go in 
search of food. A short time suffices; she runs 
eagerly about in quest of sustenance, and soon 
resumes her charge. Her eggs are diligently 
turned and shifted from the centre to the edge 
of the nest, so that each may receive a due de- 
gree of genial warmth, and it is not until about 
21 days have elapsed that the incubation is com- 
pleted. The strongest of the progeny then begin 
to chip the shell with the bill, and are succes- 
sively enabled to burst their brittle prisons. She 
continues upon the nest till the whole are hatched 
and dry, and then leads them forth in search of 
food. The hen, except when accompanied by a 
young brood, is always timid, and ready to fly 
3G 
é 
The hen is | 
ready to commence laying after she has moulted | 
