Fig. 92.—Cochineal insects, (Coccus cacti) male and female.Fig. 92.Cochineal insects, (Coccus cacti)male and female.The weight of the body, combined with the shortness of the legs, prevents these creatures from being active. The legs only serve, in fact, for clinging to the vegetable from which they draw their nourishment. The circumstances attending the birth of the cochineal insect are very curious. The larvæ are born in the dried-up body of their dead mother, the skeleton of their mother serving them as a cradle. This happens thus:—The eggs are attached to the lower part of the mother's body. When the abdomen of the mother is empty, its lower side draws up towards the upper side, and the two together form a pretty large cavity. When the mother dies, which is not long in happening, her abdomen dries up, her skin becomes horny, and forms a sort of shell. It is in this membranous cradle that the larvæ of the cochineal insect are born. The cochineal insect in its wild state lives in the woods. But it can without difficulty be reared artificially.Every one knows that the little insect called the cochineal, furnishes, when its body has been dried and reduced to powder, a colouring matter of a beautiful red, peculiar to itself. This circumstance has saved the cochineal from the persecution to which so many other kinds of insects have been devoted by the hand of man. In hot climates, in which the cochineal insect delights, it has been preserved, and is cultivated as an article of commerce. This is how the cochineal is reared in Mexico:—An open piece of land is chosen, protected against the west wind, and of about one or two acres in extent. This is surrounded with a hedge of reeds, planted in lines, distant from each other about a yard, with cuttings of cactus at most about two feet apart. The cactus garden made, the next thing is to establish in it cochineals. With this object in view they are sought in the woods, or else the females of the cochineal insect which are pregnant are taken off plants which have been shelteredduring the winter, and placed in dozens, in nests made of cocoa-nut fibres, or in little plaited baskets made of the leaves of the dwarf palm, and hung on the prickles of the cactus. These are very soon covered with young larvæ. The only thing now required to be done is to shelter them from wind and rain. (Plate IV.)IV. Gathering Cochineal in Algeria.The larvæ are changed into perfect insects, which take up their abode permanently on the branches of the cacti, asFig. 93represents. The Mexicans gather them as soon as they have reached the perfect state. The harvest cannot be difficult, considering the immobility of these little creatures. When collected, the cochineals are killed, packed in wooden boxes, and sent to Europe, to be used in dyeing.Such is the method, very simple, as we see, of rearing the cochineal—a method which has been followed for centuries in Mexico. Towards the end of the year 1700, a Frenchman named Thierry de Menouville, formed the project of taking this precious insect away from the Spaniards, and of bestowing it upon the French colonies. He landed in Mexico, and concealed so well the object of his voyage, that he managed to embark and carry to St. Domingo several cases containing plants covered with living cochineals. Unfortunately, a revolution which had broken out at St. Domingo prevented him from succeeding in his praiseworthy endeavours. The cochineals died, and the Spaniards preserved their monopoly in the rearing of this insect.In 1806 M. Souceylier, a surgeon in the French navy, succeeded in bringing from Mexico into Europe some live cochineals. He gave them to the professor of botany at Toulon; but this attempt to preserve them was unsuccessful.In 1827 the naturalisation of the cochineal was attempted in Corsica, but without success. During the same year the cochineal was introduced into the Canary Islands, but the inhabitants did not understand the importance of the experiment. They counted the cochineal among the number of noxious insects, and tried in all ways to rid themselves of it. It was only after results obtained by some more intelligent farmers, that the inhabitants of the Canary Islands perceived the profits they might derive. From that time its cultivation was extended, and after the year 1831 it increased rapidly. Thus, the cochineal imported from the Canary Isles in that year amounted to only 4 kilogrammes. In 1832 the amount was 60 kilogrammes, in 1833 it was 660 kilogrammes, in 1838, 9,000 kilogrammes, and in 1850, 400,000 kilogrammes. The French colonists in Algeria also tried to raise it. In 1831, M. Limonnet, a chemist ofAlgiers, collected some cochineals, and had the merit of first introducing the insect into the colony. On account of bad weather these first essays were fruitless, but it was not long before they were repeated.Fig. 93.—Branch of the Cactus, with Cochineal Insects on.Fig. 93.—Branch of the Cactus, with Cochineal Insects on.M. Loze, surgeon in the navy, undertook to introduce the insect again, and, with M. Hardy, director of the central garden of Algiers, gave himself up, with great intelligence, to the naturalisation and rearing of the cochineal in Algeria.In 1847 the French Minister of War, for the purpose of having the value of the Algerian cochineal fixed by commerce, caused to be sold publicly on the market-place of Marseilles a case of cochineal, the produce of the harvests of 1845 and 1846, from the experimental garden of Algiers, and which contained 17 kilogrammes of this commodity. Since that time the cultivation of this insect, the beginning of which was due to M. Limonnet, has rapidly developed. In 1853, in the province of Algiers alone, there were fourteennopaleries, or cactus gardens, containing 61,500 plants. The Government at that time bought the harvests for fifteen francs the kilogramme.We have only pointed out in a general way how the cochineal harvest is conducted. We will now enter into some details on the subject. These insects are gathered when the females are about to lay, that is, when a few young are hatched. It is when the females are pregnant that they contain the greatest amount of colouring matter. When the harvest time has arrived, the rearers stretch out on the ground pieces of linen at the foot of the plants, and detach the cochineals from them, brushing the plants with a rather hard brush, or scraping them off with the blade of a blunt knife.If the season is favourable, the operation may be repeated three times in the course of a year in the same plantation. The insects thus collected are killed, by dipping into boiling water, by being put into an oven, or by being placed on a plate of hot iron. The cochineals, when withdrawn from the boiling water, are placed upon drainers, first in the sun, then in the shade, then in an airy place. During their immersion in water they lose the white powder which covers them. In this state they are called in Mexicoronagridas. Those which have passed through the oven they calljaspeadas, and are of an ashy grey; those that are torrefied are black, and are callednegras. In commerce three sorts of cochineal are recognised; first, themastique(mestèque), of a reddish colour, with a more or less abundant glaucous powder; secondly, thenoire, which is large and of a blackish brown; thirdly, thesylvestre, which is, on the contrary, smaller and reddish. The latter is the least esteemed, and is gathered on wild cacti.Each year there are imported into France 200,000 kilogrammes of cochineals, which represents a value of about three millions of francs. Every one knows that it is from cochineal that carmine ismade, a magnificent red frequently employed by painters. Lake carmine is another product obtained from the cochineal. And, lastly, scarlet is the powder of the cochineal precipitated by a salt of tin.Before the Mexican cochineal was known in Europe, thekermes, orCoccus ilicis, known still in commerce and by chemists under the names ofAnimal kermes,Vegetable kermes, andScarlet seed, was used for the preparation of the carmine employed in the arts. This cochineal lives by preference (at least, so it is supposed) on the evergreen oak (Quercus ilex), whence its specific name.TheCoccus ilicisdevelops itself almost exclusively, not on the evergreen oak, but on theQuercus coccifera, or kermes oak, a shrub common in dry arid places on the Continent, and which vegetates on a great number of spots in the Mediterranean, particularly on thegarrigues, or waste land, of Herault.The females of this insect, which, dried, bear the name ofgraines de kermes, are of the size of an ordinary currant, without any trace of rings, nearly spherical, of a violet and glaucous colour. They adhere to the boughs of the shrubQuercus coccifera, and form dry brittle masses, which the peasants of the south of France collect, and sell at a tolerably high price.Before we possessed the cochineal of Mexico and of Algeria, this cochineal was very much employed in the south of Europe, in the East, and in Africa. It furnishes a beautiful red colour. This last named and the Mexican cochineal are somewhat used in pharmacy. They enter into alkermes, a sort of liquor served at dinner in Italy, chiefly at Florence and Naples.Another species of cochineal is theCoccus polonicus, which is met with in Poland and Russia, more rarely in France, on the roots of a small plant, theScleranthus perennis. This cochineal is gathered in the Ukraine towards the end of June, when the abdomen of the female is swollen, and filled with a purple and sanguineous juice.The Polish kermes (Coccus polonicus) was formerly used very much in Europe. This product has not indeed lost all its importance in those countries where it is met with in abundance.We have now only to point out among the insects of this group theCoccus lacca, which lives in India on many trees, among others on the Indian fig-tree, the Pagoda fig-tree, the Jujube tree, on the Croton, &c.These last-mentioned insects produce a colouring matter known under the name of Lac Dye. They fix themselves on the little branches, getting together in great numbers, forming nearly straightlines. The bodies of many fecundated females, united together by a resinous exudation which is caused by the piercing of the bark, constitutes the matter called in commerce and by dyers by the name of Lac Dye, Shell-lac, Gum-lac, &c.Resinous lac is found in commerce under four forms:—First, the stick-lac, such as it is found concreted at the extremity of the branches whence it exudes—it is an irregular brownish crust; secondly, the seed-lac, picked off the branches and pounded; thirdly, shell-lac in scales melted down and run into thin plates, which vary in quality according to the proportion of colouring matter they contain; fourthly, thread-lac, which resembles reddish threads, and is prepared thus in India.One more word about the cochineal. TheCoccus manniparus, which lives on the shrubs (Tamarix mannifera) on Mount Sinai, causes to exude from the branches it has pierced a sort of manna. TheCoccus sinensisproduces a kind of wax which is employed in China in the manufacture of candles.
Fig. 92.—Cochineal insects, (Coccus cacti) male and female.Fig. 92.Cochineal insects, (Coccus cacti)male and female.
The weight of the body, combined with the shortness of the legs, prevents these creatures from being active. The legs only serve, in fact, for clinging to the vegetable from which they draw their nourishment. The circumstances attending the birth of the cochineal insect are very curious. The larvæ are born in the dried-up body of their dead mother, the skeleton of their mother serving them as a cradle. This happens thus:—The eggs are attached to the lower part of the mother's body. When the abdomen of the mother is empty, its lower side draws up towards the upper side, and the two together form a pretty large cavity. When the mother dies, which is not long in happening, her abdomen dries up, her skin becomes horny, and forms a sort of shell. It is in this membranous cradle that the larvæ of the cochineal insect are born. The cochineal insect in its wild state lives in the woods. But it can without difficulty be reared artificially.
Every one knows that the little insect called the cochineal, furnishes, when its body has been dried and reduced to powder, a colouring matter of a beautiful red, peculiar to itself. This circumstance has saved the cochineal from the persecution to which so many other kinds of insects have been devoted by the hand of man. In hot climates, in which the cochineal insect delights, it has been preserved, and is cultivated as an article of commerce. This is how the cochineal is reared in Mexico:—An open piece of land is chosen, protected against the west wind, and of about one or two acres in extent. This is surrounded with a hedge of reeds, planted in lines, distant from each other about a yard, with cuttings of cactus at most about two feet apart. The cactus garden made, the next thing is to establish in it cochineals. With this object in view they are sought in the woods, or else the females of the cochineal insect which are pregnant are taken off plants which have been shelteredduring the winter, and placed in dozens, in nests made of cocoa-nut fibres, or in little plaited baskets made of the leaves of the dwarf palm, and hung on the prickles of the cactus. These are very soon covered with young larvæ. The only thing now required to be done is to shelter them from wind and rain. (Plate IV.)
IV. Gathering Cochineal in Algeria.
The larvæ are changed into perfect insects, which take up their abode permanently on the branches of the cacti, asFig. 93represents. The Mexicans gather them as soon as they have reached the perfect state. The harvest cannot be difficult, considering the immobility of these little creatures. When collected, the cochineals are killed, packed in wooden boxes, and sent to Europe, to be used in dyeing.
Such is the method, very simple, as we see, of rearing the cochineal—a method which has been followed for centuries in Mexico. Towards the end of the year 1700, a Frenchman named Thierry de Menouville, formed the project of taking this precious insect away from the Spaniards, and of bestowing it upon the French colonies. He landed in Mexico, and concealed so well the object of his voyage, that he managed to embark and carry to St. Domingo several cases containing plants covered with living cochineals. Unfortunately, a revolution which had broken out at St. Domingo prevented him from succeeding in his praiseworthy endeavours. The cochineals died, and the Spaniards preserved their monopoly in the rearing of this insect.
In 1806 M. Souceylier, a surgeon in the French navy, succeeded in bringing from Mexico into Europe some live cochineals. He gave them to the professor of botany at Toulon; but this attempt to preserve them was unsuccessful.
In 1827 the naturalisation of the cochineal was attempted in Corsica, but without success. During the same year the cochineal was introduced into the Canary Islands, but the inhabitants did not understand the importance of the experiment. They counted the cochineal among the number of noxious insects, and tried in all ways to rid themselves of it. It was only after results obtained by some more intelligent farmers, that the inhabitants of the Canary Islands perceived the profits they might derive. From that time its cultivation was extended, and after the year 1831 it increased rapidly. Thus, the cochineal imported from the Canary Isles in that year amounted to only 4 kilogrammes. In 1832 the amount was 60 kilogrammes, in 1833 it was 660 kilogrammes, in 1838, 9,000 kilogrammes, and in 1850, 400,000 kilogrammes. The French colonists in Algeria also tried to raise it. In 1831, M. Limonnet, a chemist ofAlgiers, collected some cochineals, and had the merit of first introducing the insect into the colony. On account of bad weather these first essays were fruitless, but it was not long before they were repeated.
Fig. 93.—Branch of the Cactus, with Cochineal Insects on.Fig. 93.—Branch of the Cactus, with Cochineal Insects on.
M. Loze, surgeon in the navy, undertook to introduce the insect again, and, with M. Hardy, director of the central garden of Algiers, gave himself up, with great intelligence, to the naturalisation and rearing of the cochineal in Algeria.
In 1847 the French Minister of War, for the purpose of having the value of the Algerian cochineal fixed by commerce, caused to be sold publicly on the market-place of Marseilles a case of cochineal, the produce of the harvests of 1845 and 1846, from the experimental garden of Algiers, and which contained 17 kilogrammes of this commodity. Since that time the cultivation of this insect, the beginning of which was due to M. Limonnet, has rapidly developed. In 1853, in the province of Algiers alone, there were fourteennopaleries, or cactus gardens, containing 61,500 plants. The Government at that time bought the harvests for fifteen francs the kilogramme.
We have only pointed out in a general way how the cochineal harvest is conducted. We will now enter into some details on the subject. These insects are gathered when the females are about to lay, that is, when a few young are hatched. It is when the females are pregnant that they contain the greatest amount of colouring matter. When the harvest time has arrived, the rearers stretch out on the ground pieces of linen at the foot of the plants, and detach the cochineals from them, brushing the plants with a rather hard brush, or scraping them off with the blade of a blunt knife.
If the season is favourable, the operation may be repeated three times in the course of a year in the same plantation. The insects thus collected are killed, by dipping into boiling water, by being put into an oven, or by being placed on a plate of hot iron. The cochineals, when withdrawn from the boiling water, are placed upon drainers, first in the sun, then in the shade, then in an airy place. During their immersion in water they lose the white powder which covers them. In this state they are called in Mexicoronagridas. Those which have passed through the oven they calljaspeadas, and are of an ashy grey; those that are torrefied are black, and are callednegras. In commerce three sorts of cochineal are recognised; first, themastique(mestèque), of a reddish colour, with a more or less abundant glaucous powder; secondly, thenoire, which is large and of a blackish brown; thirdly, thesylvestre, which is, on the contrary, smaller and reddish. The latter is the least esteemed, and is gathered on wild cacti.
Each year there are imported into France 200,000 kilogrammes of cochineals, which represents a value of about three millions of francs. Every one knows that it is from cochineal that carmine ismade, a magnificent red frequently employed by painters. Lake carmine is another product obtained from the cochineal. And, lastly, scarlet is the powder of the cochineal precipitated by a salt of tin.
Before the Mexican cochineal was known in Europe, thekermes, orCoccus ilicis, known still in commerce and by chemists under the names ofAnimal kermes,Vegetable kermes, andScarlet seed, was used for the preparation of the carmine employed in the arts. This cochineal lives by preference (at least, so it is supposed) on the evergreen oak (Quercus ilex), whence its specific name.
TheCoccus ilicisdevelops itself almost exclusively, not on the evergreen oak, but on theQuercus coccifera, or kermes oak, a shrub common in dry arid places on the Continent, and which vegetates on a great number of spots in the Mediterranean, particularly on thegarrigues, or waste land, of Herault.
The females of this insect, which, dried, bear the name ofgraines de kermes, are of the size of an ordinary currant, without any trace of rings, nearly spherical, of a violet and glaucous colour. They adhere to the boughs of the shrubQuercus coccifera, and form dry brittle masses, which the peasants of the south of France collect, and sell at a tolerably high price.
Before we possessed the cochineal of Mexico and of Algeria, this cochineal was very much employed in the south of Europe, in the East, and in Africa. It furnishes a beautiful red colour. This last named and the Mexican cochineal are somewhat used in pharmacy. They enter into alkermes, a sort of liquor served at dinner in Italy, chiefly at Florence and Naples.
Another species of cochineal is theCoccus polonicus, which is met with in Poland and Russia, more rarely in France, on the roots of a small plant, theScleranthus perennis. This cochineal is gathered in the Ukraine towards the end of June, when the abdomen of the female is swollen, and filled with a purple and sanguineous juice.
The Polish kermes (Coccus polonicus) was formerly used very much in Europe. This product has not indeed lost all its importance in those countries where it is met with in abundance.
We have now only to point out among the insects of this group theCoccus lacca, which lives in India on many trees, among others on the Indian fig-tree, the Pagoda fig-tree, the Jujube tree, on the Croton, &c.
These last-mentioned insects produce a colouring matter known under the name of Lac Dye. They fix themselves on the little branches, getting together in great numbers, forming nearly straightlines. The bodies of many fecundated females, united together by a resinous exudation which is caused by the piercing of the bark, constitutes the matter called in commerce and by dyers by the name of Lac Dye, Shell-lac, Gum-lac, &c.
Resinous lac is found in commerce under four forms:—First, the stick-lac, such as it is found concreted at the extremity of the branches whence it exudes—it is an irregular brownish crust; secondly, the seed-lac, picked off the branches and pounded; thirdly, shell-lac in scales melted down and run into thin plates, which vary in quality according to the proportion of colouring matter they contain; fourthly, thread-lac, which resembles reddish threads, and is prepared thus in India.
One more word about the cochineal. TheCoccus manniparus, which lives on the shrubs (Tamarix mannifera) on Mount Sinai, causes to exude from the branches it has pierced a sort of manna. TheCoccus sinensisproduces a kind of wax which is employed in China in the manufacture of candles.