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U.B.C. LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

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THE UNIVERSITY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA

T. L. Thacker

61

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THE

UTILIZATIO]^ OF MINUTE LIFE.

THE

UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE;

BEING

PEACTICAL STUDIES

ON

INSECTS, CEUSTACEA, MOLLUSCA, WOMS, POLYPES,
INEUSOEIA, AND SPONGES.

BY

Di^. T. L. PHIPSON, F.C.S. London,

Late of the University of Bruxelles ; Member of the Chemical Society of Paris ; Laureate of the Dutch

Society of Sciences ; Corr, Memb. of the Belgian Entomological Society, the Pharmaceutical Society

of Antwerp, the Society of Medical and Natural Sciences of Bruxelles, the Societj- of

Sciences of Strasburg, etc., one of the Editors of " Le Cosmos," etc., etc.

CirculjLT Coral Uland, recently formed in the Pacific Ocean, principally composed of the species
Mttdrepora muricata, and shutting in a portion of the ocean as a lake.

LONDON:
GEOOMBRIDGE AND SONS.

MDCCCLXIY.

), P'^'ijrfn, fcc-^

TO

WILLIAM SCHOLEFIELD, ESQ., M.P.,

ETC., BXC, ETC,

Permit me, my dear Sir, to dedicate this little volume
to you, as a new proof of the high esteem in which I
hold the jpractical efforts that have characterized your
labours in Parliament, and of the personal friendship I
bear to yourself.

Yours very sincerely,

THE AUTHOR.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of British Columbia Library

http://www.archive.org/details/utilizationofmiOOphip

PEEFACE

A VEEY few words will suffice to make known
my object in writing tlie present work.

Zoology and Botany have been looked
upon as constituting less irractical branches
of Science than Chemistry or Astronomy, for
instance. The zoological works placed in
the hands of students are necessarily so full
of anatomical details, details of classification,
and observations upon the habits and in-
stincts of animals, that very little space has
(or could have) been afforded to notice the
wonderful manner in which certain animals
contribute c?iVec^Z?/ to the welfare of mankind,

VIU PEE FACE.

and tlie metliods by wliicli tliey may be
cultivated.

This remark is especially applicable to
the lower classes of animals, to the Inverte-
hrata, and to these I have devoted the fol-
lowing pages. Their investigation in a
])ractical point of view has led, and will still
lead, to very profitable and interesting results.
It has been rendered more interesting^ of late
years by numerous experiments, having for
object the culture and artificial ^^rojmgation
of several of the more valuable species.

It is not sufl&cient to know that such an
insect or such a polype is utilized for certain
purposes in the Arts and Manufactures, we
must acquire at the same time a correct idea
of the animal itself, and the position it occu-
pies in the animal kingdom ; moreover, we
must ascertain by experiment whether any
species already valuable in its natural state
cannot be rendered more so — cannot be sub-

PEEFACE. IX

mitted to culture, and iwoimgated more exten-
sively by artificial means, and thereby increase
tlie benefits we derive from it.

To exhibit the actual state of this inte-
resting question is the task I have imposed
upon myself in the present work, which em-
braces the practical history of a great number
of animals, and from which I find it impos-
sible to exclude even the microscopic In-
fusoria.

"When opportunity has been afibrded I
have mentioned a few peculiarities observable
in several species, for it has been my endea-
vour to render the following pages interest-
ing to the general student, as well as to the
practical zoologist.

London, January, 18G4.

CO]SrTEIS"TS.

CHAPTEE I.

INTRODUCTIOIf.

Domestication — Characteristics of a Species — Creation of
Races and Varieties — Lost Types of the Animal King-
dom— Modified Species — Domestic Animals of Inferior
Orders — Pisciculture — Creation of New Races of Fish
— Cultivation of the Lower Animals . . . 1 — 8

CHAPTER II.

SILK-PRODUCma Ij^SECTS.

Chemical Nature of Silk — The Spider's Web — Bombic
Acid — Detection of Wool in Silk — Great Variety of
Insects producing Silk — The Common Silkworm, Bom-
hyx mori — The Golden Tree — The Province of Seres
and the Morea — Prolongation of Life in Plants and
Animals — Artificial Incubation and Rearing of Bomhyx

XU CONTENTS.

w2on— Enormous Appetites — Insects living withont
Food— Eate at wliich the Silkworm spins — Modes of
Destroying tlie Chrysalis— Calculation basis of Silk-
breeding — The two Mulberry Trees — Diseases of Silk-
worms and their Eemedies — Improvement of Bomhyx
mori — Tussah Silkworms — Bomhyx pernyi and B.
Mylitta — Bombyx Cynthia — Extraordinary Quahties of
Silk— Other ]^ew Species of Silkworm— Spreading of
these New Eaces — The Madagascar Silkworm — Pro-
duction of Coloured Silk by the Insects themselves—
Experiments — Bomhyx madrona — Silk of the Clothes-
Moth, Tinea — The Paraguay Spider — Ichneumon of
the West Indies — Silk Imported into Liverpool

9—35

CHAPTER III.

OOLOUR-PEODUCINa INSECTS.

The Kermes — LatreiUe and his genus Coccus — Coccus ilicis —
Crimson of the Eomans — Brussels and Flemish Tapes-
tries— Coccus polonicus — Coccus of the Poterium — Coccus
urva-ursi — The Cochineal, Coccus cacti — Plants on which
the Cochineal lives — Nopaleries — Grana sylvestra and
Grana fina— Eearing of Cochineal— The Cochineal at
Teneriffe— The Bluebottle Fly and the Aphides— Gene-
ration extraordinary — Two New Cochineals in Australia
— Cocusfahce (or Aphis fabas) in France — Its Peculiar
Colouring Matter — Lac — Carminium, its Discovery and
Properties— The Colouring Matter of the Cochineal

CONTENTS. XIU

discovered in the Vegetable "World — Carmine — Influ-
ence of Light in the Manufacture of Coloui's — Rouge
forthe face — Ink — The Cywe}?s— Caprification — Dioecious
Plants— Eipening of Figs in the East— Gall-nuts— Q/-
nips gnllce tinctorice—Th.eovj of the Formation of Vege-
table Tumours— Analysis of Gall-nuts— Then- Products
and Uses — Cynips querciis folii — On the Formation of
Grease by Animals — Other Insects Producing Dyes —
Aphis ^^n^— Money-spiders— The Magenta Dye and
Cochineal 37 — 64

CHAPTER lY.

INSECTS PEODUCING WAX, KESIN, HONEY AND

MANNA.

Chinese Coccus "^hich produces a kind of Spermaceti —
Value of its Produce — "WTiite Lac — Insects producing
Eesin — Wax Insect of Sumatra — Details concerning
the wax Coccus — Bees — Ajns mellifica — Its native
coimtry — Virgil — Modern Authors who have Written
on Bees — Ajns ligustica — A, amalthea and its curious
Nests — Bamburos — Apis unicolor — Green Honey of
Bourbon — Eock-honey of JN'orth America — Apisfasciata
— A. indica — A. Ada?isonii — A Swarm of Bees — The
Queen, Males and Workers — Mathematics of the Bee-
ceU — Silkproduced by Bees — Production of Wax — How
Honey is procured — Plants favoui^able to Bees — Dura-
tion of Life in Bees — Enemies and Maladies — Chloro-

XIV CONTENTS.

forming Bees — Mr. N'utt's Hives — Profit derived from
Bee-culture — New modes of Preserving Bees during
Winter — Periodical Transportation of Hives — How to
discover Bees' JSTests — Kew Species of Bee at Sydney —
Bees as Instruments of War — Honey, its Nature and
Composition — Artificial Honey from Wood, Starch,
etc. — Manna and the Coccus maniparus — Wax, its
Nature, Composition, and Uses . . . 65 — 90

CHAPTER V.

IXSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS FOOD, AND
OTHER INSECTS USEFUL TO MAN.

Spanish Fhes — Cantharides — Their Medical Properties —
Cantharidine — Cantharides in Poitou — Different Species
of Cantharides — Discovery of Cantharidine in 3Ieloe —
The 3Ieloe, or Oil Beetle — Metamorj^hoses of Moloe and
Sitaris — Cetonio aurata — Coccinella — Trehala — Buprestis
— Ants — Formic and MaUc Acids in Ants — Production
of Milk from the Eggs of Ants — Ants which collect
Precious Stones — Termes as an Article of Food —
Locusts and Cicadce — Acrydium migratorium — The
Ethiopian Acrydophagi — Cicada septemdecim — Bugs
and Fleas — Southey — Phtirophagi — Aranea cdulis —
Centipedes — The Mexican Boat Flies — Beetle used for
Soap — Calandra granaria — Presence of Tannic and
Gallic Acids in this Beetle— Fire Fhes— Truffle Flies—
The Common House Fly, etc. — Remarkable Action of

CONTENTS. XV

Light upon Animal Life— Growth of Insects under
diflferently Coloui-ed Light .... 91—110

CHAPTER YI.

CRUSTACEA.

Artificial Propagation practicable vdth Crustacea as with
Fish— The Common Lobster— Laws of Eegeneration —
The Craw Fish — Curious Discoveries relating to the
Young of these Animals — Phyllosoma — Zoea — Meta-
morphoses among Crustacea — Praniza and Ancea —
Larvee of Lobsters — Colouring Matter of Lobsters,
Crawfish, etc.— Composition of a Lobster Shell —
Shrimps — Crangon vulgaris — C. horeas — Snhinea sep-
tem-carinata and other Shrimps— Prawns — Palemon
carcinus and P. jamaicensis — Other Prawns — Bopyrus
crangorum — The Isojjoda — The Family of Crabs —
Cancer pagurus — C. mcenas — Pin)iotJieres — Pagurus —
Diogenes — Land Crabs — TheljjJmsa Jluviatilis — Crabs of
the genus Gecarcinus — Their Wonderful Emigrations —
Bernardin de St. Pierre — Birgus latro — Eobber Crab —
Quantity of Fat it Produces— Concluding Eemarks on
this Family 111—131

CHAPTER VII.

MOLLUSCA.

Cephalopoda: — India and China Ink — Fossil Ink-bags —
Octopus vulgaris — The Colour Sepia — Sepia officinalis, or

XVI CONTENTS.

Cuttlefish— Cuttle-bone — Loligo vulgaris — Edible Cuttle-
fish— Chemical nature of then- Colour — Nautilus — Argo-
nauta — Carinaria.

Gasteropoda : — The Tyrian Purple — Curious Properties of
the Colouring Matter of Sea-snails — Murex hrandaris —
Purpura lajnllus — Helix fragilis — Yandina fragilis — Pur-
pura patella — Murex truncatus — Experiments with
American Sea- snails — Colour furnished by Whelks —
Bucciiium — Influence of Light upon the Production of
their Coloui' — Process used by the Ancients to dye
Purple — Uric Acid in Gasteropoda— Murexide — Snails
that are Beared for Food, etc. — Helix jJOJJiatia — Snail-
gardens — IT. aspersa — H. horticola — Arion rufus — Ana-
lysis of Snails — Limacine — Helicine — Uric Acid in H.
pomatia — Turho littoreus, or Periwinkle — Haliotis —
Snails used as Money — Cyprcea moneta — Other Species
of Cypraea — "Love-shells " — Conus — OUva — Ovula —
Stromhus gigas — Cassis — Turbinella — Murex — Buccinum
— Curious Experiments with Snails — Slugs — Limax
inaxhnus — L. agrestis.

Bivalves : — Mytilus edulis, or Common Mussel — Its Cultui'e,
etc. — Hurtful at certain seasons — M. choros — M. Magel-
lanicus — 31. area — J/, lithophagus — Ostrea edulis, or
Common Oyster — Details concerning its Artificial
Breeding and Propagation — Acclimatisation of Mol-
lusca— Fishing on the Plessix bed — Spotidglus—Car-
dium edule, or Cockle — Solen—Pecteti maximus — Tellina
— Tridacym gigas — Chama — Cameos — Stone Cameos and
Shell Cameos — Chinese Cameos — Pearl Oysters —

CONTENTS. XVll

Avicula margaritifera—A, frimhriata — A. sterna — Pearl
Fishery — Details, etc. — Pearls of Mytilus edulis — Ano-
dontes — Unio pictorum — Unio margaritiferus — Culture of
the Fresh-water Pearl-Mussel — Value of its Pearls-
Artificial modes of causing it to produce Pearls — Phma
— Their Silky Byssus and its uses — Their Pearls — Other
uses of Shells — Tunicata and Bryozoa . . 135 — 198

CHAPTER VIII.

WOEMS.

Curious Obserrations upon "Worms — Eeproductive Power
oftheiVaVs — Sahularia — Terehella — Lumbncus — Planaria
— Helminthes, or Entozoa — The Common Earth-worm,
Lumhricus terrestris— The Leech, Hirudo medicinalis —
The Horse-leech, H. sangiiisuga — " Hirudicultui-e," or
Leech-breeding — Its Cruelties — Extent to which it is
carried in France — Barometers of Leeches and Frogs —
Worms for the Aquarium .... 199 — 210

CHAPTER EX.

POLYPES.

General Eemarks on Polypes — Their Organization and Poly-
pidom — Naturalists who have written upon Polypes —
Hydra fusca and H. riViWis— Reproduction of Polypes —
Polypes for the Aquarium — Corallium nohilis and general
Observations on Coral — Its Polypidom — Practical
Details concerning Coral — " Corallicultui-e " — Coral

XTUl CONTEXTS.

Fishery — Uses of Coral — Isis hipimris, or Articulated
Coral — Tuhijwra musica — The genus Madrepora—'Reei
and Coral Islands — Formation of Eeefs — 3fadrepora
miiricata — Its Chemical Composition — How it derives
its Lime— Its uses 211—234

CHAPTER X.

INFUSOEIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE.

Microscopic Animals useful to Man— Universal Distribution
of Infasoria — Dry Fogs — Authors who have studied
Infusoria — Philosophical considerations concerning
them — The 31onads, Eotifera^ Vibrio — Rhizopoda —
Monas crepusculum, the most minute of living beings
— Deposit in which the Ti'ansatlantic Cable hes —
Transition of Colour in Lakes — Fossil Infusoria —
Mountain Meal — Its Chemical Composition — Enormous
quantities of it Consumed as Food — Geographical distri-
bution of Infusorial Deposits — The Town of Eichmond
in Virginia — Berlin — The Polishing Schist of Bilin —
1,750,000,000 beings to the square inch— The Swedish
Lake Iron-ore — Tripoli, its uses and composition —
Geographical and Geological Distribution of Infasoria,
Foraminifera, and Diatomaceae — Soluble Glass obtained
from Infusorial Deposits— Its Uses— Other applications
of Infusorial Earth— Chalk, its Uses and Origin— The
Nummulitc Limestone — Paris mostly built of Ani-
malcula3— Other details— Time . . . 235—264

CONTENTS. XIX

CHAPTER XL

SPONGES.

Eemarks on Classification — Structure of a Sponge — Natu-
ralists who have contributed to the History of Sponges
— Chemical !N"ature of Sponge — Interesting results —
Spongia officinalis and S. usta — The Syrian toilet^
Sponge — Its high price — Other Sponges — Objects for
the Aquarium — Spongilla Jluviatilis and S. lacustris, or
the Fresh-water Sponges — Sponges common on the
Enghsh Coasts — Their use in Medicine — Sources of
Iodine and Bromine — Flints and Agates as owing their
formation to Sponges — Petrified Sponges — Practical
details on the Toilet Sponge — Sponge Fishery and
Markets 265—282

J^l'lljl I,

Introduction.

(X>omestiGation — Characteristics of a Species — Creation,
of Ilaces and Varieties — Lost ^ypes of the Jknimal
Kingdom — JJLodified Species — (domestic Jxnimals
of Inferior Orders — (Pisciculture — Creation of JTevj
Faces of Fish — Cultivation of the Lower jznimals.

THE

UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

INTRODUCTION.

.^HE lower classes of animals wHcli are treated
of in tlie following pages are mostly as re-

markable for their great utility to man^ as by
the peculiarity of their organizations or their
habits. Many of them have acquired as
great an importance in the economic applications
of the human race as the higher organized beings
that have contributed to the welfare and comfort of
man from the earhest historic ]3eriods;, and which
have generally been termed " domestic animals.^^

Such a term mighty at the present day, be
applied to most of those lower forms of animal life
which will occupy our attention here.

By domestication is understood the art of
training animals to administer to the wants of
man. It is by flattering their natural taste s, by
placing them artificially in circumstances similar in
many respects to those of the savage state, preserv-

4 INTRODUCTION.

ing as mucli as possible their natm^al instincts^ that
the subjugation and domestication of the most useful
species has been accompHshed. It is still a discussed
point among philosophers whether man has the
power of modifying the nature of a species to such
an extent that it loses its natural or essential charac-
teristics.

However much the enthusiastic naturalist may
admire the poetic doctrines of Lamarck^ Etienne
Geoffrey St. Hilaire, and Darwin^ he must not com-
pletely thi'ow aside Cuvier's more severe doctrine
of the Fixity of Species. Both are true to a certain
extent^ but both have been exaggerated.

Domestic animals^ like certain useful plants, have
certainly undergone marked changes. No one
doubts our power of creating new races or varieties
in the animal world, with almost as much ease as in
the vegetable kingdom ; and these we can modify or
ameliorate according to our wants. These races or
varieties flourish even when the original animals
from whence they sprung have disappeared for ever !

WTiere is now to be found the original animal to
which we owe the ox, or the horse, or the camel, or
the dog ? The original types of these domestic
animals have disappeared from the face of the
globe. The cow in all probability originated in the
animal seen and described by Herberstein {Eerum
Moscovitarum Commentani, etc., 1556) in the six-

INTRODUCTION. O

teenth century, under tlie name of Thur. The
species to which we owe the horse is extinct ; the
type of the camel, the original dromedary, the type
of the dog tribe are lost for ever.

But they are replaced by numerous varieties of
animals so useful to us that they have been called
" domestic animals/' in producing which man has
attended to his own interests.

These modified species of animals are increasing
in number daily. The term " domestic^' animals
should extend over the whole, or, at least, the greater
portion of the animal world. Our readers are not ac-
customed to hear grubs, insects, animalculee, etc.,
spoken of as " domestic animals.''^ But do we not
rear our silkworifns with as much care as our alieejp or
our cows ? Do we not construct houses for our heeSj
cochineals, snails, oysters, etc., as we do for om'
rabbits, our chickens, or our horses ? Are not large
fortunes realized by the cultivation of a worm such
as the leech, or a grub such as the silkworm, as
readily as by the aid of the camel of the desert or
the Indian elephant ? Have we not seen a thimbleful
of some new insect or its eggs fetch as high a price
in the market as the choicest Cochin-China fowl ?

It is too true that these inferior beings are com-
paratively new to us in this hght. But their study
affords far greater interest, and, in many cases, un-
doubtedly more profit, than that of superior animals.

b IXTEODUCTION.

Imagine a man in difficult circumstances endea^
vouring to gain a liveliliood by rearing some new
variety of dog, cow, liorse, ass, or pig. He would
liave greater cliance of success were lie to extract
some new colouring matter from tlie insect world,
or discover a means of doubling the produce of tlie
hee or tlie silkworm, or a metliod by whicli sponges
and corah miglit be cultivated with, as much case as
a lettuce or a caulifloiver.

My endeavour in this volume is to treat of
inferior animals useful to man, from insects down-
wards to infusoria and sponges. I leave it to others
to write the useful novelties that may concern
Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes. My obser-
vations treat of Invertehrata only.

Our readers have doubtless heard of a new species
of culture which has lately taken a very extensive
development. It is called Pisciculture, or the breed-
ing of fish, in which many eminent naturahsts have
met with astonishing success.* Their secret was,
however, known long ago to the Chinese. When a

* See papers on the subject by Coste, De Quatrefages, and others,
and for the artificial propagation of the salmon in Great Britain,
see report of a committee, consisting of Sir W. Jardine, Dr.
Fleming, and Mr. E. Ashworth, in "Eeport of British Association,"
1856. These researches are facilitated as regards fish by the great
fecundity of the latter. Thus, the pike, for instance, produces about
300,000 eggs ; the carp, 200,000 ; and the mackerel, more than
half-a-million. But this fecundity is still more astonishing in the
inferior animals of wliich wc treat here.

INTRODUCTION. 7

Chinaman wished to stock a pool with fish he repaired
to some stream where the latter were known to
abound^ and placed in it bundles of straw_, whicli
were soon covered with spawn. After a certain
time the straw was withdrawn and placed in his
pool,, where the eggs were hatched, and the young
fish soon became large enough to satisfy then*
master's appetite.

The writings of Coste, Millet, Gehin, Milne
Edwards, De Quatrefages, Remy, and others,* have
not only taught us how to stock our streams with
magnificent salmon, trout, grayling, etc., but lead
us to expect that there will soon exist as many
different varieties of trout, salmon, perch, tench, etc.,
as we have actually of dogs or horses. For certain
closely alhed species have been crossed so as to
produce new varieties or races of fish never before
seen.

Similar experiments are being made with inferior
animals. The attention of philosophers and practical
men is now dh^ected to the latter. We speak now
of the amelioration of some insect species, of the
cultivation of a mollusc or a poly^pe. We begin to
see how we can profit by infusoria or some other
animalcule.

The following pages will, I tmst, give some idea

* Quite recently Mr. Francis and Mr. Buckland have again
brought forward the subject of FiscicuUure in England.

8 INTRODUCTION.

of tlie extent to wliicli these practical studies are
actually pursued ; and what animals^ a sliort time
since almost ignored^ may eventually prove them-
selves a source of wealth, comfort, and happiness
to man.

Silk-Producing Insects.

^he Chemical Jiature of Bilk — '2he Spider's Weh —
^orruhio Jloid — (J)etectiorh of Wool in Bilk — G-reat
Variety of Insects producing- Silk — Q^he Qommon
Bilkworm, ^omhyx mori — ^he G-old^en Tree — '-The
(province of Beres and the Jdorea — (Prolongation o;^
Life in Plants and Jlnimals — -Jlrtificial Incubation
and P^earing of ^omhyx mori — Enormous Jippetites
— Insects Living without Food — I^ate at luhioh the
Bilkworm Bpins — -J/Lodes of (X>estroying the Chrysalis
— Calculation basis of Bilk-breeding — The twoJ\/ful-
berry Trees — (X>iseases of Silkworms and their i^e-
medies — Improvement of ^ombyx mori — Tussah
Silkworms : ^ombyx Pernyi and ^ . JVLylitta — ^om-
byx Cynthia — Extraordinary Qualities of Silk — Other

JTew Species of Bilkworm — Spreading of these J<fezu
ifo-ces — The Jdadagasaar Silkworm — Production of
Coloured Silk by the Insects themselves — Experi-
rroents — ^ombyx madrona — Bilk of the Clothes-

Jvloth : Tinea — The Paraguay Bpidei — Ichneumons
of the West Indies — Bilk Imported into Liveipool.

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS.

fNSECTS are, perhaps, of all animals, those
wliicli have proved most useful to man. The
^/D silkworm alone, the most important of them all,
^ has been, in a practical point of view, the object
of more experiments than any other known creature.
Volumes have been written upon it, new varieties are
constantly being discovered and reared with hopes of
reahzing still greater advantages, and, at the same
time, investigations are pursued with a view of in-
creasing the produce of the original insect.

The chemical nature of silk, which is secreted
through the mouth of the grub from organs resem-
bling the sahvary glands of other animals, is very
little known. In the body of the silkworm it
appears as a viscous liquid, which becomes sohd
when in contact with the air. If we take a silk-
worm at the period when he is about to spin his
cocoon, and immerse him for twelve hours in \^ne-
gar, on opening the reservoir which contains the
Hquid silk, the latter may be drawn out into threads
as thick as a common sized knitting-needle, and of
such tenacity that it is impossible to break them

12 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

with tlie hands. These thick threads are used
to attach hooks to fishing-Hnes for large fish.

Roard and Mulder have endeavoured to ascer-
tain the chemical nature of silk. The latter chemist
has recognized in it a peculiar animal matter_, which
he terms fibroin , or pure silk-fibre. When the
Hquid silk taken from the body of the grub is
placed in acidulated water, it coagulates into a
mass of minute white filaments. When secreted
by the silkworm a portion of this liquid solidifies
and forms a simple thread of silk, which, in con-
tracting, expels from its interior a hquid that
soHdifies on the surface of the thread, forming a
sort of varnish. It is the latter which gives to
certain silks their natural yellow colour.

The analysis of Mulder shows that the hquid
secretion of silkworms contains about half its weight
of pure silk-fibre (fibroin), the remaining portion
consists of albumen, two kinds of grease, a species
of gelatine, and a slight quantity of a red colour-
ing matter. The spider^ s web shows a perfectly
similar composition.

Mulder has shown that by distilling silk with
diluted sulphuric acid, a peculiar product is obtained
called bombic acid. It may also be obtained by
boihng raw silk with water, and evaporating with
precaution. This bombic acid is an extremely in-
teresting product, first noticed by Chaussicr. It is

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 13

higHy volatile^ and possesses a very peculiar strong
smell.

It is useful to know how to detect the presence
of wool in silken tissues. Lassaigne has given us
an easy method of effecting this by showing that a
dissolution of oxide of lead in potash will blacken
woollen threads^ forming sulphide of lead, because
wool contains a notable proportion of sulphur.
This is not observed with silk threads. If the
suspected tissue is coloured, it is necessary to take
out the dye before applying the test.

Such are the principal chemical data we possess
regarding silk.

This substance is not produced by the silkworm
alone ; endless varieties of insects, or larvae of
insects, produce it likewise ; and we have just seen
that the spider's web has a similar composition.
Indeed, as we shall see presently, other insects
besides the silkworm have been reared with a
view of obtaining silk, but as yet only with limited
success.

The common silkworm is the larva of a kind of
moth {Bomhyx mori) belonging to the family of
Lepidoptera. Much uncertainty has prevailed as
to the country in which this Bomhyx was ori-
ginally found and reared. It appears evident,
however, that the silkworm is a native of China,
and that the mulberry tree was cultivated in that

14 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

country^ and known by the name of The Golden
Tree, two thousand six hundred years before the
Christian era.

The insect was afterwards transported to Hin-
dostan, where it was reared successfully for some
time in the province of Seres, whence came the
denomination Sericum, given by the Eomans to the
product of the silkworm. Persia and many other
countries of Asia began in their turns to profit by the
cultivation of the Bomhyx mori, which industry is
still earned on there. The vessels and caravans of
the Phoenicians carried the Asiatic silk to the prin-
cipal markets of antiquity.

The mode of producing and manufacturing this
precious material was kejDt secret by many means,
and consequently was not known in Europe till
long after the Christian era had commenced. It was
first learnt, we are told, about the year 550, by two
monks, who, having concealed in hollow canes some
eggs of the silkworm-moth procured in India, has-
tened to Constantinople, where the insects speedily
multiplied, and were subsequently introduced into
Ital}^, where silk was long a peculiar and stable
article of commerce. It was not cultivated in
France till the time of Henri IV., who, consider-
ing that mulberry trees grew in his kingdom as
well as in Italy, resolved to introduce the silkworm,
and appears to have succeeded perfectly. However,

SILK-PEODUCING INSECTS. 15

even in the time of the Emperor Justinian, a certain
portion of Greece was covered with such a quantity
of mulberry trees (Morits), that it received the name
of Morea, which it retains to the present day.

In an entomological work pubhshed in London
in 1816, all that is said about the silkworm con-
sists in the following few words : '' The most

valuable of all moths is the silkworm The

art of converting its silk into use is said to have been
invented in the Island of Cos by a lady named
Pamphylis.''*

Each female Bombyx lays at least 500 eggs,
sometimes this number is much larger. Ten or
twelve days afterwards both the male and female
moths die. Thus, as soon as they have assured
the conservation of the species, they bid adieu to
this hfe. This remark, which is appHcable to most
insects, is also true for annual plants ; and I have
shown in another work, that if the couphng of
insects be prevented, either accidentally or pur-
posely, it is possible to prolong the period of their
existence, and at least to double it. In like manner
if an herbaceous plant, such as the mignonette,
which dies down at the end of a year, have its

* According to Aristotle, the lady's name was Pampliyla, and
she must not be mistaken for the woman of the same name who
wrote a general history in thirty-three volumes, in jS'ero's time, and
from whose name our English vfordi pampUet is perhaps derived.

16 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

flowers carefully cut away as soon as tliey appear,
the plant, instead of remaining an annual, con-
tinues to live througli tlie winter ; and if the same
operation be repeated tlirougliout tlie following
year, our mignonette will soon become a ligneous
vegetable — a real tree ; and from tliat moment the
duration of its life is unlimited. This then is the
whole secret of the " elixir of life," at least as re-
gards plants and inferior animals. Future research
alone can assure us whether the same principle is
applicable to higher organisms.

Mr. Spence having remarked that the larva or
grub of a certain Aphidivorus fly (a fly feeding upon
the Aphis, or blight) had lived about twelve months
without the shghtest particle of food — an example by
no means unprecedented in insect life — says : " We
can attribute this singular result to no other circum-
stance than it having been deprived of a sufficient
quantity of food to bring it into the pupa state,
though provided with enough for the attainment of
nearly its full growth as a laiwa. Possibly the
same remote cause might act in this case as operates
to prolong the term of existence of annual plants
that have been prevented from perfecting their
seed ; and it would almost seem to favour the hy-
pothesis of some physiologists, who contend that
every organized being has a certain portion of irri-
tability originally imparted to it, and that its life

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 17

will be long or sliort as tbis is slowly or rapidly
excited/^

It is during the spring that tlie eggs of tlie
silkworm moth undergo artificial incubation or
hatching. This is efi"ected by submitting the eggs
to a temperature ranging from 16^ to 18° Cent. ;
but sometimes to quicken this operation the heat
is raised gradually to 28°. The eggs are hatched in
ten or twelve days^ when the young larvse are care-
fully separated from their former envelopes^ and
reared on the leaves of the mulberry tree.

M. Perrottet has remarked that silkworms^
eggs carried from France to the West Indies_, and
kept in those hot chmates for seven or eight years^
could not be hatched until eight or nine months had
elapsed_, notwithstanding the high temperature, and
then only at long and irregular intervals. But when
the same eggs were put in an ice-house for four or
five months, they were hatched within ten days from
their being exposed to the circumambient atmos-
phere, and nearly all at once.

In establishments where the rearing of silk-
worms is carried on upon a large scale, the rooms
ought to have a degree of warmth ranging from
16° to 18° Cent., and it is of the utmost importance
that the air of these rooms should be perfectly pure.
Artificial ventilation is therefore as necessary here
as in an hospital. M. Dumas, who has paid great

c

18 UTILIZATIOX OF MINUTE LIFE.

attention to this question^ lias lately submitted to
analysis the air of the rooms in some of the prin-
cipal silkworm establishments in France, and has
found that in many cases this air was devoid of the
necessary proportion of oxygen. Indeed, these
establishments will never be properly warmed and
ventilated unless they adopt the Yan Hecke system
of ventilation and warming, which is beginning to
be generally employed in hospitals, and which is the
only system of mechanical ventilation where the
heat and the supply of air are completely under
control, and can be regulated at will.*

The period which elapses from the birth of the
larvae to the time it begins to spin, varies according
to the different climates, and according to the par-
ticular species or variety of silkworm cultivated.
In China this period is reckoned at twenty-four
days j in Italy from thirty to thii'ty-two days ; and
in the Korth of France and Belgium from thirty-
two to thirty-four days. In Belgium the culture of
the silkworm has begun upon a large scale ; there
is an extensive establishment in Uccle near Brussels
(see Fig. 1), which is the most northern estabhsh-
ment of the kind in Europe.

During this period the gi^ubs change their skin
four times, and their appetite, which is enormous,
becomes still greater after each moulting. For-
* See "Medical Review," January, 1861, London.

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 2T

tunately they cease eating and become drowsy as
tlie time of moulting approaclies. At all times
their greatest enemies are damp and noise ; they
must be kept quiet, and, above all things, clean.

The larvse born from one ounce of eggs require
during their first age, which lasts five days, about
7 lbs. weight of mulberry leaves. After the first
moulting, and during the second age, which lasts
only four days, they require 21 lbs. of leaf. During
the third stage, which lasts a week, they devour
70 lbs. of mulberry leaf; in the fourth stage (also
a week), 210 lbs. ; and during the fifth stage, from
1200 to 1300 lbs. of leaf. On the sixth day of this
last period, they devour as much as 200 lbs. weight
of leaf, with a noise resembling the fall of a heavy
shower of rain. On the tenth day they cease eating,
and are about to undergo their first metamor-
phosis.*

At this period of their lives they begin to spin
their cocoons. The silkworm spins on an average

* Although the larvce or ginibs of insects in general are very
voracious, as in the example before us, the perfect insect, on the
contrary, can live for a long time without food. Thus, Mr. Baker
has pi'oved that the beetle called Blaps mortisagn can live for three
years without food of any kind. The little sugar fish {Lepisma
saccharina) was shut up in a pill box by Mr. Stephens, in 1831,
and found aHve in 1833. Leuwenhoek saw a mite which was
gummed alive to the point of a needle, live for eleven weeks in that
position. Other examples have been noticed in Kirby and Spence's
admirable " Introduction to Entomology."

22 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

at the rate of six inclies per minute. Tlie length of
silk furnished by 07ie cocoon averages 1526 English
feet.

The total quantity of silk spun in one year in
Lyons alone amounts to 6,000,000,000,000 of Enghsh
feet. We cannot be surprised, then, that in the South
of Europe the prospect of a deficient crop of silk
causes as great a panic as a scanty harvest of grain
with us. The average crop is about 80 lbs. weight
of cocoons produced from the larvEe hatched from
one ounce of eggs. But this harvest is in some cases
far greater, and has been known to attain 130 lbs.

In four days the silkworm has completed its
cocoon, in which it remains from ten to twenty days
in the chrysalis state, from which, in nature, it
emerges as a moth. If left to itself the newly formed
insect makes its way out of the cocoon by means of
a brown liquid it secretes, and which has a corrosive
action upon the silk.

To prevent this the chrysahds are destroyed either
by placing the cocoons for an hour upon a hot stone,
by exposing them for three successive days to the
direct rays of the sun, or by heating them by means
of vapour in a copper apparatus to 60^ or 75° (Cent.).
We are told that the Chinese used formerly to
produce the same effect by placing the cocoons in
large earthen jars covered with salt, from which they
excluded the air.

SILK-PEODUCING INSECTS. 23

A certain number of cocoons are put aside to
perpetuate tlie breed. Tliis operation is based upon
tlie calculation tliat 1 lb. of cocoons are equivalent
to one ounce of eggs — tliat is^ tliat tlie moths from
1 lb. of cocoons can produce one ounce weigbt of
eggs. We bave already seen tbat one ounce of eggs
will produce 80 lbs. of cocoons.

The mulberry tree (a native of Cbina, and of
wbicli there are two varieties : the black_, Morus niger,
whose refreshing fruit is well known^ and the white^
Morus alba J upon whose leaves the silkworms
breed) is easily cultivated wherever the vine grows,
but succeeds very well in more northern climates.
I have myself seen the Morus alba cultivated with
success at Uccle, a pretty spot near Brussels,
already alluded to, and I know that experi-
ments of the same kind have met with success in
England, Switzerland, Prussia, Hungary, Austria,
Russia, etc.

As a consequence of its domestication, the silk-
worm, though very robust in China, is subject in
other countries to various maladies. The worst of
these is certainly that called Muscardine, which
attacks the larva at all periods of its life, but espe-
cially while making its cocoon. It is an infectious
disease, and can be communicated from the body
of a dead larva to that of a Hving one. This de-
structive pestilence, for which no efficacious remedy

24 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

appears to be knowii_, is caused by a parasite fungns^,
Botrytis bassiana, developed in tlie body of tlie grub.
Absolute cleanliness is tlie only metliod by wliicli tlie
invasion of tliis parasite can be prevented. As soon
as it bas made its appearance^ tlie sick larvas must
be immediately separated from tlie others.

Atrophy or Rachitism is generally caused by
a careless incubation; it is tlien incurable; but if
this disease result from negligence in tlie breeding,
it can be remedied by separating tlie sick larvae
from tbe otliers_, and feeding the former upon more
delicate leaves. Gangrene, wliicli finally reduces tlie
grub to a black fetid liquid, is tlie result of otlier
morbid affections, and is without remedy. Jaundice,
wliicli is characterised by a swelling of the skin,
which bursts at different parts of the insect^ s body,
is generally caused by sudden atmospheric changes,
which trouble the functions of digestion, and is
almost always fatal.

In the department of Yaucluse, where, on a
small area of land, more than two million of mulberry
trees are grown, gangrene, resulting from these and
other maladies, is arrested in its course by sprinkling
quicklime over the larva3, by means of a very fine
sieve, and then coveiing them with leaves soaked in
wine.

AjJojolexy is sometimes determined by sudden
changes of the weather, and by bad nourishment ;

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 25

diarrhoea, dropsy, and some other diseases are gene-
rally caused by want of attention on tlie part of tlie
owners of silkworm establishments.

A remarkable improvement has lately been
eflPected in tbe breed of the common silkworm
[Bomhyx mori) by M. Andre Jean, the director of
a large silkworm establishment at Neuilly, near
Paris, which I had occasion to visit not long ago.
This gentleman having communicated his discovery
to the Societe d^ Encouragement j"^ I was in\dted with
M. Dumas to witness the effects of his experiments.
A favourable report was afterwards made upon
the subject to the Paris Academy. The whole
secret consists in causing the largest and finest male
and female silkworm moths to breed together. For
this purpose M. Andre Jean places aside for breed-
ing the cocoons which have been spun by the
largest caterpillars, and which have a greater weight
than the others. From this sorjbing of the cocoons
a very valuable race of silkworms had been created
when I visited the establishment, and the inventor
is now occupied in distributing the eggs of this new
race among the large silk-breeding establishments
of France. The larvae that are developed from
these eggs astonish us by their size when compared
with the common silkworm.

* See " Bulletin de la Societe d'Encouragement," Paris, 1856 ;
and the journal " Cosmos," Paris, 1856.

26 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Up to tlie present time almost all the silk pro-
duced in Europe^ and tlie greater portion of tliat
manufactm-ed in Cliina_, lias been obtained from
tlie common silkworm {Bomhyx mori). But new
varieties of Bombyx are beginning to be cultivated
in Europe^ especially in France.

For a very long time considerable quantities of
silk liave been iiroduced in India from otlier descrip-
tions of silkworms. Of tliese the most important
are the following : —

Firstj the Tussali and Arinchj silkworms^ whose
history has been given with detail by Dr. Eoxburgh
(" Linnean Transactions/^ vii. 33). The fuss ah silk-
worm. (Bomhyx Pernyi) is a native of Bengal^ and
feeds upon the leaves of the Jujube tree {Zizyjjlius
jujuha). Dumeril,, the celebrated French naturaHst_,
cultivated it for some time^ as an experiment^ upon the
leaves of another tree^ Jambosia pedonculata, and M.
Guerin Menneville has bred this tussali worm exclu-
sively upon oak leaves. Besides whicli^ it is known
to live upon a plant called Tenninalia alafa glahra.
So that this grub has the advantage of being what
is termed Folyphytojpliagous, that is, it can be made
to feed upon different kinds of leaves. This fact
has been observed with some other species of
Bombyx. It is certainly a great advantage to those
who undertake to introduce it into Europe.

The silk of the tussali worm is much coarser

SILK-PEODUCING INSECTS.

27

than tliat of tlie common silkworm, and of a darker
colour. Witli it are clotlied one hundred and twenty
millions of Chinese,, Brahmins, etc., and it would
doubtless be useful to the inhabitants of the New
World and the South of Europe^ where a light, cool
and at the same time cheap and durable dress is
much wanted. Garments made of tussah silk will
wear, when in constant use, for ten or twelve years.
Tussah silk is also produced by another species
of Asiatic moth, Bombyx Mijlitta, which has lately
been successfully reared in France by M. Guerin
Menneville, at Paris, and also at Lausanne. Its
leather-like cocoons are composed of silk so strong
that a single fibre will support, without breaking, a
weight of one hundred and ninety- eight grains. It
also feeds upon a great variety of leaves, among
others upon oak leaves. The eggs of this moth have
been known to hatch in Siberia before the appear-
ance of leaves upon the oak tree. The only way of
preventing the larvae from starving- in such cases,
is to cut branches from the oak and |)lace them in
vessels of water. The leaves are thus made to shoot
out quickly, and the grubs are fed upon them until
the oak tree is covered with foliage. The natural
enemies of these larvae are birds, bats, ants, some
species of frog, serpents, and foxes^ who eujoy
them exceedingly.*

* The fox will also eat beetles, and attack bees' nests for honey.

28 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Tlie Arincly silkworm {Bomhyx Cynthia) , dis-
covered in Bengal^ feeds upon tlie castor-oil plant
{Rlcinus communis) . This curious plant_, wliicli in In-
dia and Africa is a large tree, becomes in our climate
a small herbaceous annual. Tlie silk produced by
B. Cynthia is remarkably soft and glossy; it cannot
be wound off tlie cocoon, and is therefore woven
into a kind of coarse white cloth of a loose texture,
used for clothing, and for packing expensive fabrics.
Its durability is so great that a man^s lifetime is
insufficient to wear out a garment made of it.

M. Guerin Menneville, who has experimented
with this silkworm, informs us that the transfor-
mation of its chrysalis into a moth may be arti-
ficially suspended for a period of seven months.
The chrysalis of our common silkworm may be
kept in this state for a period of two years if the
temperature be cool. If the latter rises from 15° to
18* Cent., the moth conies forth in eighteen or
twenty days ; but it is a general rule with insects
that the time they remain in the chrysahs state
depends upon the temperature.

The way in which many insects resist cold is
truly wonderful. Many larva3 and chrysalids may be
frozen until they become as brittle as glass, and
after having remained for some time in this state,
they revive by the application of warmth. Spal-
lanzani once exposed the eggs of the silkworm to

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 29

an intense degree of cold^ produced by an artificial
freezing mixture_, in wliicli they remained for five
hours without being frozen, the thermometer of
Fahrenheit having fallen to 56^ below zero, although
the hquid portions of an insect^s egg has been shown
by John Hunter to freeze at 15^ Fahr. The eggs
submitted by Spallanzani to this treatment were
afterwards hatched.

In 1854 the Governor of Malta made several
reports upon the Boinhyx Cynthia for the informa-
tion of the Society of Arts. It had been intro-
duced into Malta from India that year, and appeared
hardy and wonderfully prohfic. Yet it failed in
1855. The author of these observations had, how-
ever, previously distributed its eggs throughout
Italy, France, and Algeria, and, continuing to watch
the trials made in these countries, he found that
the new silkworm had flourished and had been
carried into Spain and Portugal. He therefore
reintroduced it into Malta. At the end of July
1857, he received a few eggs by post in a quiU
from Paris, and these have multiphed in an extra-
ordinary manner. The winter season (December)
appeared to affect the caterpillars even in Malta —
they grew slower than in summer, but nevertheless
appeared healthy.

In France experiments are being made on the
silk of the B. Cynthia^ which is found to be very

30 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

fine, and to take dyes admirably. Tlie cocoons
are carded and afterwards spun. It lias been dis-
covered tliat tlie ckrysalis in extricating itself from
tlie cocoon does not cut tlie thread as bad been
asserted, and tbe French have partially succeeded
in unwinding the cocoons after tbe exit of tbe
niotb.

Tbe natural climate of B. Cynthia bes upon tbe
borders of tbe tropics, bence tbe difficulty ex-
perienced in keeping tbe insect during tbe winter
in European climates. It is spreading, however,
rapidly over tbe globe. Tbe Grovernor of Malta
sent it to tbe West Indies in 1854. Tbe French
have forwarded it to tbe Brazils, to the Southern
States of North America, and to Eg^^t. It has
bkewise spread from Malta to Sicily, and 127,000
cocoons have recently been sent from Algeria to be
manufactm-ed in Alsace. Although its natural food
is the castor- oil plant, it will live and thrive, we are
told, upon tbe Fuller^s teasel {Bipsacus fidlonum).

Besides these varieties of silkworm, the members
of the Societe d^ Acclimatization of Paris are about
to make experiments with other species, such as
Bovibyx Bauhinia, B. PolyiDlieme, B. Aurota, etc., all
exotic insects, at present little known.

In Victoria, according to the "Australian and
New Zealand Gazette," of 1858, a native variety of
silkworm has been discovered in the bush. Mr.

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 31

"WTiyte tas forwarded cocoons to several establish-
ments. Tlie product of tMs new insect is said to
be of a very superior kind ; and the insect is ex-
tremely abundant in tbat colony.

It is not very long since that the famous Mada-
gascar silkworm created much sensation in Europe,
and hopes were entertained of rearing it in France.
The most remarkable peculiarity of this insect is that
several of its larvae spin together and produce a
cocoon as large as an ostrich egg.

Some experimenters have endeavoured to make
the silkworm produce silk ready dyed. On this
point we know that when certain colouring matters
extracted from the vegetable kingdom are mixed
with the food of animals they are absorbed without
decomposition and colour the bones and tissues of
the body. Starting from this fact, Messrs. Barri and
Alessandrini, in Italy, sprinkled certain organic
colouring matters over the mulberry-leaves on which
the silkworms were feeding. M. Roulin, in France,
employed in the same way the colouring matter
known as cMca. These attempts have met with
partial success only, up to the present time; but
they deserve to be continued. Coloured cocoons
were thus produced several times. Some observers
assert, however, that the silk was not really secreted
in a coloured state, but that the colouring matter
sprinkled on the leaves merely adhered to the body

32 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

of tlie grub^ and coloured tlie cocoon meclianically
during its construction. This appears to be tlie reason
why the coloured silk that was obtained in these ex-
periments was neither uniform in tint nor of a good
colour. Others^ however, still persist in a contrary
opinion. M. Roulin commenced his experiments by
sprinkling indigo over the mulberry- leave s, and
obtained blue cocoons; he then experimented with
chicay a fine red dye extracted from the Bignonia
chica, which the Indians of Oronoco employ to dye
their skin, and obtained cocoons of a red colour,
with a tolerably uniform tint, and of a permanent
dye. He still continues these investigations,
hoping to obtain silk ready dyed of all kinds
of colours.

AVhatever may be thought of these experiments
as they now stand, they are novel, and should there-
fore be encouraged. It would, probably, be worth
while to try the effect of the famous new green
dye, Lo-lxcio, mixed with the diet of the silkworm.
This colour, which is one of the most beautiful and
most extraordinary dyes ever yet produced, has
great aflBnity for silk ; it is extracted from several
species of Rhamnns, and we have seen that certain
varieties of silkworm feed upon the leaves of plants
[Zizyphus, etc.) of the same family.

Kirby and Spence have informed us that Don
Louis Nee observed on Psidium jpomifei'um and P.

SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 33

pyri/erum ovate nests of caterpillars eight inclies
long formed of grey silk, whicli tlie inhabitants of
Ckilpancingo, Tixtala, etc., in America, manufacture
into stockings and liandker chiefs. Great numbers
of similar nests of a dense tissue were observed by
Humboldt in the provinces of Mechoacan and the
mountains of Santa Eosa, at a height of 10,500
feet above the level of the sea, upon the Arbutus
madrona and other trees. The silk of these nests
is produced by the larvae of Bomhijx madronaj who
live in society and spin together. It was an object of
commerce with the ancient Mexicans, who made it
into paper. Handkerchiefs are still manufactured
of it in Oaxaca.

It is a doubtful question whether the breeding
of any European moths will ever become a source
of advantage. Experiments have already been made
on certain varieties of clotbes-moths {Tinea). Mr.
Habenstreet, of Munich, experimented some years
ago upon a species called Tinea punctata, or Tinea
fadilla (Fig. 2), closely allied
to T. Evonymella ; the larv« of
the former were made to spin
upon a paper model suspended Fig. 2 -Tinea padiUa

r i. L i. (Suk-spiiiiiing gnat).

from the ceiling of a room. To

this model, any form or dimensions could be given
at will, the motions of the larvae being regulated by
means of oil applied to those parts of it which

D

34 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

were not intended to be covered. Tlie investi-
gations sliowed tliat on an average two of these
larvae can produce a square incli of silk^ and wlien
employed in great numbers their produce is astonish-
ing. Mr. Habenstreet succeeded tlius in manufac-
turing an air-balloon about four feet in lieight^ one
or two sliawls_, and a complete dress with sleeves,
without any seams. The tissue thus curiously
produced resembled the hghtest gauze, which it
surpassed in fineness. We are told that the Queen
of Bavaria once wore a robe of this description over
her court dress.

On mentioning these experiments to my friend,
M. Babinet, of the French Academy of Sciences, he
said the only thing that could be urged against the
use of this silk of the Tinea jnindata was its exces-
sive Kghtness ; the slightest breath of wind is suffi-
cient to carry away a whole dress. We will only
add to what we have already said concerning these
silk-producing insects, that De Azora speaks of a
peculiar spider in Paraguay which envelopes its eggs
in a yellow cocoon of an inch in diameter, and whose
silk is spun into dresses by the inhabitants of Para-
guay. The colour of this silk is very permanent.

The Ichneumon flies of the West Indies, which
feed upon the indigo and cassada plants, furnish a
silk of peculiar whiteness, which is not yet employed.

Silk of Bomhyx mor'i is imported in the raw state.

SILK-PEODUCIXG INSECTS. o5

as spun by the insect, into Liverpool, at tlie rate of
about 57,000 lbs. annually. Tussab silk from B,
Mylitta arrives in Liverpool from tbe East Indies in
quantities wbicli vary from 2000 lbs. to 12,000 lbs.
per annum.

Oolour-producing Insects.

^he Kerines — Latreille and his genus Coccus — Cocaios
ilicis — Crimson of the ±iornans — Brussels and
Flemish tapestries — Coccus polonicus — Coccus of
the (Poterium — Coccus zova-ursi — 9^he Cochineal —
Coccus cacti — (Plants on which the Cochineal lives —
JTopaleries — G-rana sylvestra and G-rana fna —
Iiearing" of Cochineal — 'dhe Cochineal at Teneriffe —
<27ie ^luehottle Fly and the Jlphides — G-eneraticn
extraordinary — 9^wo nezu Cochineals in Jliustralia.
— Coccus fabce (or Jiphis fahcB) in France — Its
peculiar Colouring-flatter — Lac — Carminium, its
dAsocvery and properties — 'zThe Colouring flatter of
the Coo/lineal discovered in the Vegetable 'World —
Carmine — In^uence of Light in the Jdanvfaoture of
Colours — Iioug-e for the face — Ink — The Cynips —
Caprification — (X>icecious (Plants — Ifipening of Figs
in the Fast — Q all-nuts — Cynips-galloe-tinatorioe —
9^heory of the Formation of Vegetable 9^umours —
Jinalysis cf (B-all-nuts — Their prod^ucts and Uses —
Cynips quercus folii — On the Formation of G-rease
by Jlnimals — Other Insects prodxicing (X>yes — flphis
pini — ''J\/Ioney-spiders" — The Jdagenta Q^ye and
Cochineal.

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS.

^OLOUR-PRODUCING insects come next,
perhaps, in importance to those we have
already noticed. The cultivation or breed-
ing of these useful little animals forms
one of the most interesting and profitable
branches of industry.
I shall begin by speaking of the Cochineal, which
will constitute the most important feature of this
chapter ; but I prefer drawing attention, in the first
instance, to the Kermes (or Chermes), a httle insect of
the same genus as the former, known and employed
long before the cochineal insect was discovered.

The insects of which I am about to treat all
belong to Latreille^s genus Coccus, in the family of
the Hemiptera. The number of species belonging
to this genus being very great, and being possessed
of extraordinary colouring properties, they consti-
tute a wide field for research and experiment. The
more so, as very few are, as yet, cultivated to any
extent, although many species appear to possess all
the necessary quahfications, and many others are
ignored in a practical point of \dew.

40 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

The Kermes {Coccus ilicis, Latr.) lias been em-
ployed to impart a scarlet colour to clotli from tlie
earliest ages. It was known to tlie Phoenicians
under the name of Tola, to the Greeks as KoMos,
and to the Arabians and Persians as Kermes or
Alkermes {Al signif}ang the, as in the Arabian
words alkali^ alchymy^ etc.). In the Middle Ages
it received the epithet Vermiculatum, or '^ httle
worm/^ from it having been supposed that the in-
sect was produced from a worm. From these de-
nominations have sprung the Latin coccineus, the
French cramoisi and vermeil, and our crimson and
Vermillion.

The Coccus ilicis, or Kermes_, is found in many
parts of Asia^ the southern countries of Europe^ and
the south of France,, where it is very common. The
first person who made mention of this insect appears
to have been Pierre de Quiqueran^ who spoke of it
as early as 1550. Its history was afterwards written
by Nissole in a paper addressed to the Paris Academy
of Sciences in 1714^ and by Eeaumur in the tome iv.
of his " Memoires pour servir a THistoire des In-
sectes.^^ The females resemble a pea in size and
form, whence they have been frequently taken for
seeds. The insect lives upon a small evergreen oak,
the Quercus coccifera, h., and yields a brownish red
colour, which alum turns to a blood-red tint.

Dr. Bancroft has shown that when a solution of

COLOUE-PRODUCING INSECTS. 41

tin is used witli kermes dye, as witli cocMneal,
the kermes is capable of imparting a scarlet quite
as brilliant as tliat produced by tlie cochineal itself,
and to all appearance more permanent. But on the
other hand we know that one pound of cochineal
contains as much colouring matter as ten or twelve
pounds of kermes. However, we are told that it
was with the latter insect that the Greeks and
Romans produced their crimson, and from the same
source were derived the imperishable reds of the
Brussels and other Flemish tapestries. Cochineal
has supplanted kermes, and the latter is now only
cultivated by some of the poorer inhabitants of the
countries in which it abounds, more particularly
in India and Persia, and by the peasantry of
southern Europe.

Another species of kermes, the Coccus polonicuSj
Latr., sometimes known as the scarlet grain of
Poland, is very common in Poland and Russia.
Before the introduction of cochineal this insect
formed a considerable branch of commerce. In the
neighbourhood of Paris, and in many parts of Eng-
land the G. ]oolonicus is found upon the roots of
Sclerantlms perennis (perennial knai'vel), a plant that
is not uncommon in Norfolk and Suffolk. The
colour which it furnishes is nearly as beautiful as
that of the cochineal, and capable of giving the
same variety of tints. The insect was formerly

42 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

collected in large quantities for dyeing red in the
Ukraine^ Lithuana^ etc.^ and though still employed
by the Turks and Armenians for dyeing wool^ silk,
and hair, but more particularly for staining the
nails of the Turkish women, it is rarely used in
Europe except by the Polish peasantry.

The same may be said of other species which the
cochineal has completely eclipsed, such as the Coccus
found upon the roots of Poterium sanguisorha, an
insect formerly used by the Moors for dyeing silk
and wool a rose colour ; and the Coccus iiva-ursi,
which, with alum, dyes crimson. All these species
owe their colouring properties to a principle called
carmine, which I shall refer to presently.

The discovery of the cochineal has not prevented
experiments being daily made with these and other
species of Coccus, which we shall mention here-
after.

The cochineal (Coccus cacti, Latr., Fig. 3) was

♦ already in use in Mexico when the
Spaniards arrived there in 1518; its
true nature was not, however, ascertained
till upwards of a century later. Although
Acosta declared cochineal to be an insect
cacti, La?r! as carly as 1530, it required the labours

(Cochineal „

magnified). 01 many naturalists from that period till
1714, to place its real nature beyond doubt, so
generally was it supposed to be the seed of a plant.

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 43

The Coccus cacti is a native of Mexico, where it
lives upon different species of Cactus or Opuntia.
The plants chiefly cultivated in hot climates for
breading cochineal are the Cactus coccineUifer, C.
opuntia, C. tuna, C, paresxia, etc. The first of
these is also called Opuntia coccinellifera, and is
known as the Nopal, although it appears, from
Humboldt^s account, that these plants are two dis-
tinct species, the latter being probably the Cactus
opuntia of Linn^us. However, the insect thrives
equally well on both.

The cochineal, which comes to us in the form
of a small shrivelled grain of a reddish colour,
covered with a sort of white down, was for-
merly only cultivated in Mexico. The female alone
is of any commercial value. The male enjoys
only a short life, and generally dies at the age of
one month ; its wings are as white as snow. The
females fix themselves firmly by means of their pro-
boscis on to the plant which serves them as a habi-
tation, and never quit this spot. Here they couple
with the male insects, and increase considerably in
size. Each female lays several thousand eggs,
which proceed through an aperture placed at the
extremity of the abdomen, and pass under the body
of the mother-insect to be hatched. The mother-
insect then dies, and her body dries up and forms a
kind of shell or envelope in which the eggs are

44 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

hatcliedj and from wlience tlie little cochineals soon
proceed.

Tlie cultivation of tlie Nopal and its cochineal
was originally confined to the district of La Misteca^
in the State of Oaxaca_, in Mexico_, where some
plantations contain upwards of 60^000 separate
plants set in straight ]ines_, each being about four
feet high, which height it is not allowed to exceed,
so that the insect may be easily gathered. The
flower is always carefully cut away. These planta-
tions are called Nopaleries [Nojpaleros) , from the
name of the plant, which is chiefly cultivated for
cochineal in Mexico. AYe are told that the greatest
quantity of this insect emjDloj^ed in commerce is
produced from small nopaleries belonging to Indians
of extreme poverty.

Two varieties of cochineal are gathered and sent
into the market, the wild kind from the woods,
called by the Spaniards grana sylvestra, and the
cultivated, or grana fina. The former is decidedly
inferior in quality to the latter, and furnishes far less
colouring matter.

The insect in its natural state is of a dark-brown
colour, but fine cochineal when Avell dried and pro-
perly preserved should have a grey tint bordering
on purple. The grey colour is owing to the downy
hair which naturally covers its body, and to a slight
quantity of wax. The purple shade arises from the

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 45

colouring-matter extracted by the water in wliicli
the insects have been killed.

The wild variety {grana sylvestra) loses by cul-
tivation a good deal of its cottony or downy appear-
ance, and doubles in size ; it is then known as grana
fin a.

Real cochineal is detected by the following cha-
racter : — it is wrinkled, with parallel fui^rows across
the back of the insect, which are intersected in the
middle by a longitudinal furrow. This serves to
distinguish the true cochineal from any fictitious pre-
paration. Sometimes smooth black grains called
^' East India cochineal" are mixed with the genuine
article, but an experienced eye easily detects the
fraud.

A French naturalist, Thieri de IMenonville, ex-
posed himself to great dangers for the sake of
observing and studying the cultivation of the cochi-
neal in Mexico, in order to enrich by its means the
colony of St. Domingo. He carried there the two
varieties mentioned above, along with the nopals on
which they lived. He discovered also the variety
sylvestra living upon the Cactus ])aresxia, at St.
Domingo — a discovery that was not without value
to Bruley — and soon set about the rearing of this
interesting little insect ; but death cut him short in
his experiments, and Bruley continued them with
much success. The posthumous work of Thieri was

46 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

afterwards publislied^ and may be consulted witli
profit by rearers of cocliineal to tliis day.*

It was generally tliouglit for a long time^ and^
indeed^ it is still believed by many^ tliat tlie coclii-
neal derives its colour from tlie nopal on wliicli it
lives^ tlie flowers of wliicli are red_, but Thieri ob-
served that the juice on which, the insect nourishes
itself is of a green colour, and, moreover, that the
cochineal can be reared and multiplied upon certain
species of opuntia, whose flowers are not red. I
should mention here, however, that in the " Philoso-
phical Transactions,'^ vol. 50, it is stated that when
Cactus oijuntia is given to children, their urine
becomes of a lively red colour, and we shall see
presently that carminium, the colouring-matter of
cochineal, has been discovered in the vegetable
world, in a plant of the Orchidte family.

The wild cochineal has been found in many parts
of North America. Dr. Garden observed it in South
Carolina and Georgia ; it has since been discovered
in Jamaica and Brazil. Anderson thought he had
seen it wild in Madras, but the species he took for
the true cochineal turned out to be another species
of Coccus, a kind of Kermes.

* " Traite de la Culture du Nopal ct de I'lCducation de la
Cochenille dans les Coloiiios Francaises del'Amerique, precede d'un
Voyage ^ Guaxaca." Tar M. Thieri de Menonville. "Annalesde
Chimie," torn. v.

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 47

Wlieii preserved in a dry place^ coclimeal retains
its colour for an unlimited time. Hello t made ex-
periments with some dried cocliineal tliat liad been
kept a hundred and thirty years, and found their
colour as vivid as that furnished by the insects just
taken from the Cactus.

The poor Indians spoken of above establish
their nopal plantations on cleared ground, on the
slopes of mountains or ravines, two or three
leagues from their villages, and when properly
cleaned, the plants are in a condition to maintain
the insects for three years. In spring, the proprie-
tor of a plantation purchases as stock a few branches
of Cactus tuna, laden with small cochineals recently
hatched, called semilla (seeds). The branches may
be bought for about three francs the hundred ; they
are kept for twenty days in the interior of the huts,
and are then exposed to the open air under a shed,
where, owing to their succulency, they continue to
live for several months. In August and September
the female insects big mth young are gathered and
strewn upon the nopals to breed. In about four
months the first gathering, yielding twelve for one,
may be made, which, in the course of the year, is
succeeded by two more profitable harvests. In colder
climates the young insects {semilla) are not placed
upon the nopals until October or even December,
when it is necessary to shelter them w^th rush mats.

48 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

and tlie harvest is proportionately later. Mucli care
is required in tlie tedious operation of gathering tlie
cocliineal from tlie cactus or nopal ; it is performed
with, a squirrels tail by tlie Indian women, who for
this purpose squat down for hours together beside
one plant. The insects are killed either by throw-
ing them into boihng water, by exposing them in
heaps to the sun, or by placing them in ovens.
Seventy thousand dried insects weigh on an average
one pound. Dr. Bancroft estimated the consumption
of cochineal in England at one hundred and fifty
thousand pounds per annum, worth about £375,000
sterhng, and when Alex. Von Humboldt wrote his
^^ Political Essay on New Spain," the quantity of
cochineal exported from Mexico was worth upwards
of £500,000 per annum. Since that period the cul-
tivated or " domestic" cochineal and the cactus on
which it feeds have been introduced into Spain,
India, and Algiers, etc., where its cultivation has
greatly increased.

Professor Piazzi Smyth has given an account of
the introduction of the cochineal into TenerifFe •
"Who would have thought in 18o5," says he, in
the account of his astronomical observations in that
island, " that the years of the grape-vine of Tene-
riff'e were numbered ?"

Teneriffe had effectively been a vine-producing
country for three hundred years ; and when a gen-

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 49

tleman introduced the cactus and cocliineal tliere
from Honduras^ lie was looked upon as an eccentric
man, and liis plantations were frequently destroyed
at niglit. However, wlien tlie grape disease broke
out, Orotava was gradually forsaken by vessels in
quest of wine wliicli could no longer be supplied ;
and witli starvation staring tliem in tlie face, tlie
inhabitants turned to cocliineal growing : wherever
a cactus was seen upon the islanxi, a httle bag of
cochineal insect was immediately pinned to it. The
essay succeeded admirably. An acre of the driest
land planted with cactus was found to yield three
hundred pounds of cochineal, and, under favourable
circumstances, five hundred pounds, worth £75 to
the grower. Such a profitable investment of land
was never before made. In the south of Tenerifie,
the cochineal insect thrives best, and two har-
vests are made in the year; in the north of the
island only one harvest is made, and the growers
are consequently obliged to buy fresh insects every
season from the south, as the little beings cannot
survive the northern winter.

Now, we know from experiments that in warm
climates as many as six harvests of cochineal may be
made in the year ; and these are so abundant, the first
more especially, that more than one million pounds
weight of cochineal arrives in Europe every year.
The cactus knows no greater enemy than rain ;

E

50 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

it is^ tlierefore^ essential to protect it from tlie
wet.

The cocliineal grower must also scrupulously
avoid tlie mixing of dififerent species of Coccus on tlie
plants ; even tlie wild variety (sylvestra) must be
kept away from tlie cultivated (fina), or tlie latter
will become tMn and maladive, and breed a cross
variety;, whicli is inferior in quality. After gatlier-
ing the insects^ the plants must be washed with a
sponge before being strewn with the mother-insects.
In 1853 there were already seventeen French no-
jpaleries in Algiers ; at which epoch M. Boyer col-
lected there 2000 francs worth of cochineal from
three thousand nopals^ which occupied only one-
sixteenth of an hectare of ground.

The Coccus cacti or cochineal from Mexico is
imported occasionally from South America to Liver-
pool : in 1855 one hundi^ed and seventy-three hun-
di^ed weight arrived.

Like the " Blue-bottle fly " and the Aphides
(or blight), the cochineal insects {Coccus) do not
always lay eggs hke other insects, but give birth to
young larvce, having very close resemblance to
their mothers. Thus, with Aphides and Coccus, we
observe the following curious phenomena : — In the
early part of the year the female insects do not lay
eggs, but bring forth young insects (without
previous fecundation), the whole of which are also

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 51

females. These bear young again, without the
concourse of any male insect, and so on for about
nine generations. Finally, in autumn, the last
generation of females give birth to insects of both
sexes. The sexes unite, the males die, and the
females dejyosit eggs upon the branches and die also.
These eggs pass the winter season on the spot, and
in the spring give birth to females which reproduce
similar females, and so on throughout the year
without the concourse of the other sex. This is cer-
tainly one of the most extraordinary phenomena
Natural History has revealed to us. In speaking
further on of the genus Melo, I shall refer to
similar curiosities in the embryo life of insects, and
when speaking of Infusoria, I will make known
some extraordinary facts lately discovered, with
regard to their development also.

When Leuwenhoek first announced that the
aphides were viviparous, and that he suspected
they were born without previous fecundation, the
researches of naturalists were immediately directed
to this point. Reaumur showed that aphides were,
indeed, viviparous ; he then tried to rear them in
perfect solitude, but his insects died, and his expe-
riment failed. It was reserved for Bonnet to con-
firm the ideas of Leuwenhoek. Bonnet reared
aphides in complete soUtude from the time of their
birth, and in a few days remarked that they brought

52 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

fortli young. He immediately placed tlie latter in
confinement, and observed them give birtli to other
young aphides. By following up the experiments
he saw produced before his eyes nine generations
of aphides, successively bom without the concourse
of the two sexes. But it had be^ certainly ascer-
tained that there exist male and female aphides, and
it was also given to Bonnet to observe their accou-
])leinent. In autumn he saw the httle winged aphides
couple with the females, which are much larger,
after which he saw no more young aphides appear :
the females laid eggs, which both Bonnet and Reau-
mur looked upon as averted foeti, as they never
seemed to hatch. Lyonnet was more fortunate : he
observed the hatching of eggs laid by the aphis of
the oak-tree. Dutrochet, in a short paper read in
1818, at the Paris Academy of Sciences, shows the
complete organization of the generative organs of the
male and female aphides, and has come to the con-
clusion that these insects are not hermaphrodite, as
Reaumur supposed, but that the opinion professed
by Trembley, that the fecundation which takes place
in autumn is sufficient to render fertile the nine
successive generations of females, appears most
probable.*

The marvellous tinctorial properties of the cochi-

* Dutrochet's paper was subsequently published in 1833
C Ann. des Sciences IS'aturelles," vol. xxx.)

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 53

neal insect renders interesting tlie discovery lately
made of two new species of cochineal, both natives
of Australia, whicli have not yet been described by
entomologists. They were discovered by Mr. Child.
One of them lives upon a species of Mimosa, the
other on a species of Eucalijijtus. They produce
four or five generations during the year. A short
time ago M. Gruerin Menneville presented to the
Paris Academy a new indigenous cochineal which
was found living upon some weeds of our own
climate, and from which a magnificent scarlet dye
can be obtained. This new insect has been de-
nominated Coccus fahce, as it may be successfully
reared upon the bean, on the stalks of which
vegetable it appears to have been originally
discovered. It was afterwards found upon the
sainfoin.

Coccus fahce was discovered by M. Guerin Menne-
ville in the South of France. The discovery terrified
him not a little, for should Coccus fahce multiply under
favourable circumstances as rapidly as these kind of
insects usually do, it would become a disastrous
source of hiight to beans and sainfoin, and possibly
to other plants. He then thought of turning his
discovery to account, and proclaimed his new insect
an extremely useful one, that by proper cultivation
might one day replace the exotic cochineal. M.
Chevreul, who examined the colouring matter it

54 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

produced^ pronounced it to be a peculiar scarlet^,
whicli, until then, could only be obtained by artificial
mixtures. It appeared to have a decided advantage
over real cochineal as regards the dyeing of wool,
but only if the new insect could be procured at a
cheaper rate than cochineal, as it was much less
rich in colouring matter than the latter. Moreover,
the colourino' matter of this new insect is not car-
minium, but a perfectly distinct substance. Now
all insects belonging to the genus Coccus yield car-
minium, therefore M. Guerin^s new insect is certainly
not a Coccus, but probably, as M. Dumeril stated, an
Aphis, whence Aphis fcibce would be its proper name.

A new dye, called Canadian cochineal, has been
lately prepared by Professor Lawson, of Queen^s
College, Canada, from an apparently new species of
Coccus, which was noticed in the summer of 1860,
on the common black spruce {Ahies nigra) in the
neighbourhood of Eangston. The new dye is very
similar to cochineal, but, unlike it, can be produced
in temperate climates.

I must here bnefly notice the little insects which
furnish lac, and which belong to other species of
Coccus. Lac is a dark red substance which was
supposed to be formed by Coccus lacca (or Coccus
ficus) as bees form their cells. But from the
analysis of this substance made by Unverdorben, it
appears to consist of five sorts of resins mixed with

COLOUR- PRODUCING INSECTS. 55

a little wax, colouring matter, and grease, and that
it exudes from the branches of Zizyphus jujiiha and
other trees, after they have been pricked by the Coccus
lacca. It is collected from various trees and shrubs
in India, where it is very abundant, and has the
appearance of a concrete juice adhering to and
encircling the branches. Chevreul discovered that
its red colour was owed to carmdnium — the principle
of the cochineal, and therefore its colour is certainly
produced by the insect Coccus.

There are several varieties of this substance,
known in commerce as stick-lac, seed-lac, and shell-
lac. Stich-lac, when it is in its natural
state, adhering to the branches (Fig. 4) -,
seed-lac when separated, pulverized, and
the greater portion of colouring matter
extracted by water ; lump-lac^ when
melted and made into cakes ; sliell-laCy
when strained and formed into trans-
parent plates.

Two other products are also brought
from India. They are chemical prepara-
tions for dyeing, called Icic-lake and lac-
dye.

In the latter country lac is used to

stick-lac. manufacture beads, rings, and other

ornaments. Mixed with sand, it is used to construct

grindstones. In this country it is used principally

56 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

for varnislies, japanned ware^ and sealing-wax_, and
sometimes as a substitute for cocliineal in dyeing
scarlet. Formerly large quantities of lac-lake pre-
cipitated fi'om an alkaline solution of tlie resin by
alum_, was manufactured in Calcutta and exported
to England. At present it is imported from tlie
East Indies in two forms. Shelly stick, and seed-
lac (the resinous exudation) arrives in Liverpool at
the rate of about two hundred tons per annum. It is
principally used for varnish. Lac-dye or cake-lac^
and lac-lake (the colouring matter of the insect
combined with alumina_, etc.) arrives in Liverpool at
the rate of about seventy tons per annum. It is
used exclusively for dyeing.

Carminmm, the colouring matter of the cochi-
neal_, is a very interesting substance. It was first
extracted from the Coccus cacti by Pelletier and
Caventou iii 1818. They observed that it formed
with alumina a magnificent lake, which they
called carmine. This lake was, however, previously
formed many years before by Dr. Bancroft. M.
Lassaigne discovered carminium in the kermes
{Coccus ilicis), and Chevreul asserted that it existed
also in lac-dye (product of the Coccus lacca). It has
also been extracted from Coccus polonicus, etc.

The reason why all these insects cannot be em-
ployed so advantageously as Coccus cacti, is simply
because they jrield a much smaller proportion of

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. O/

carminium, and contain a greater quantity of
grease, etc. This is so true that if the greasy
matter be previously separated by pressure from
Coccus polonicus, this insect can be employed weight
for weight with the same advantage as the genuine
cochineal.

Carminium may be obtained by treating pul-
verized cochineal, first by ether to extract the
greasy matter, and then by alcohol. The product
thus obtained is treated once more in the same
manner, when, by evaporation of the alcohol, car-
minium is deposited as a granular substance of a
red-purple colour. If carminium be combined with
oxide of lead, we obtain a violet compound, which,
when decomposed with sulphuretted hydrogen,
yields a transparent colourless liquid, by the evapo-
ration of which a new substance is deposited in
colourless crj^stals. These absorb oxygen from the
air and become carminium.

In August 1856, M. Belhomme made the beau-
tiful discovery of carminium in the vegetable king-
dom ; he found it in the petals of a plant of the
Orchidae family, the Monarda didyma, L. This
plant, which has been known to horticultmnsts for
some time, is a native of North America. "WTien
its petals are placed in water, they yield to the
liquid a crimson colouring matter in every respect
similar to the carminium of the cochineal. Some

58 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

time ago the autlior of tliis work thought he had
discoyered carminmin in the bark of the alder tree,
but it tui-ned out to be another colouring matter,
still more interesting in a chemical point of view.

The colom-ing matter of the cochineal, like that
of madder, or Turkey-red, becomes yellow by the
action of acids, but we can distinguish it from the
latter, for when carminium is separated from the
acid, it appears with its usual red colour, whilst
madder remains yellow.

Light has a peculiar action upon carmine — the
beautiful crimson lake obtained by precipitating an
alkahne solution of cochineal by alum. Mr. Hunt
has shown that when this lake is prepared in the
dark, it is of far less brilliant a colour than when
prepared in the sunshine. The same fact has been
observed for other colom-s, such as Prussian
blue, etc.

The colouring matter for the face called rouge,
employed upon the stage — and sometimes off it — is
made by mixing half a pound of prepared chalk with
two ounces of freshly prepared carmine. This is the
only red colouring matter that should be tolerated
for this purpose, as it is perfectly harmless; the
other products sometimes sold as such are extremely
hurtful, from their venomous properties. M. Cheva-
lier of Paris has very recently made a long report
upon the sufferings produced among actors and

COLOUR- PRODUCING INSECTS. 59

actresses in Paris by tlie use of poisonous colours
containing lead, mercury,, arsenic, and other toxic
principles.

* * >ii *

I shall now turn to gall insects, or Cyiiips, to
whicli we owe many useful products.

If ink were tlie sole product of the insects which
produce the gall-nut, we should not be so much
indebted to them, as ink can be produced in a
variety of manners. But we shall see that the
Gijnips furnish us with other substances useful to
mankind. Although the insect which produced the
gall-nuts found in commerce was not known to
Linnaeus or to Fabricius, it belongs to their genus
Cynips — a genus composed of small four-winged
flies, and classed in the family of Hymenoptera.
Some of these flies are remarkably useful to the
Greeks in their process of caprificatioii. A dioecious
fig-tree, very common in the East, would indeed be
comparatively useless but for their aid. By a
dioecious plant is meant one in which the male and
female flowers are found on diS'erent individuals.
In most plants the two sexes are united in the
same flower, but in others, such as the hop, the
nettle, some willows and figs, etc., the male flowers
(stamens) are found on one individual, the female
flowers (pistils) on the other. Now, as no fruit can
ripen without the concourse of these two kinds of

60 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

flowers^* tlie female fig-trees of tlie East are apt to
become sterile wlien removed from tlie immediate
vicinity of tiie male plants. On tlie otlier liand a
certain species of Cynips is known to abound in tlie
flowers of tbe latter j so that to render tlieir female
trees fertile_, tlie Greeks imagined tbe process of
caprijication, wliick consists in this : As soon as tbe
male flowers are in full blooni^ tliey are cut off" and
strung into garlands^ wkicli are liung upon the
brancbes of tbe female trees. Tbe Cynips in tbeir
passage from tbe male to tbe female flowers, carry
witb tbem tbe pollen of tbe former, and so tbe con-
ditions of fertibty are ensured.

Tbere are many descriptions of gall-nuts, but
tbose wbicb are mostly esteemed for industrial pur-
poses are tbe gall-nuts of tbe East, exported cbiefly
from AlejDpo, Smpma, etc. Tbey are tbe product of
an insect first described by Olivier, and now gene-
rally known as Cynips gallce tinctorice.

"Wben an insect of tbe Cynips kind is about to
lay its eggs, it makes a sliglit incision in tbe leaves
of certain plants into wbicb it deposits its eggs.
Tbe sap of tbe plant tbus wounded flows rapidly to
tbis spot — a separate incision is made for eacb egg
— and in course of time a small excrescence is
formed. Tbe eggs batcb and tbe new-born larvce

* There are two apparent exceptions to tliis rule, namely, the
CcBlohogyne, or batchelor plant, and Hemp.

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. Gl

nourisli themselves on tlie tissue of tlie excresceiices_,
thereby causing the sap to flow again to these parts.
As the little ball or wart grows in size,, its interior
is excavated more and more by the increasing appe-
tite of the larv£e^ until the sides of the excrescence
have become tolerably thin. The larva thus becomes
a chrysalis, and when its metamorphosis is com-
pleted, the perfect insect without much difficulty
bores through the gall-nut and makes its exit.

There are galls of all sorts and sizes, many of
which possess very curious forms ; but each diffe-
rent variety is produced by a distinct species of
Gyniios.

Eeaumur and Malpighi, to whom we owe our
knowledge of the formation of gall-nuts, assure us
that one of these, however large, attains its full
size in a day or two, and that those which spring
from leaves constantly take their origin from the
nerves or veins of the leaf.

The galls produced by Cynips gallce tindorice,
fetch a high price in the markets. They were
formerly analysed by Sir Humphry Davy, who
found in them 63 parts of cellulose or vegetable
fibre, 26 of tannic acid, 6*2 of impure gallic acid,
2-4 of mucilage, and 2-4 of ash or mineral matter.
To the tannic acid they owe their highly astringent
property, on account of which they are employed
in medicine — their galHc acid is indispensable for

62 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

pliotograpliy : by tlie action of lieat it is converted
into pjTOgallic acid_, wliicli is still more useful to
pliotograpliers. By mixture witli salts of iron they
produce ink and black dyes^ and tincture of galls is
a reagent constantly employed in cliemical labora-
tories.

Tliese gall-nuts are found upon tlie leaves of an
oak tree [Quercus infedoria, L.) Tlie little red
oak balls found in our oak leaves are owed to the
Cynips quercus folii (Fig. 5) ; they also can be em-

FiG. 5.— a. Foreign galls ; I, Gall-nuts of Cynips quercus folii.

ployed to produce ink, dyes, gallic acid, etc. ; but
Berzelius assures us that they contain little more
tannic acid than the leaf itself on which they are
produced.

Messrs. Lacaze and Eiche (" Archives des
Sciences Physiques et Natm^elles de Geneve," xxx.
17) have profited by the singular conditions under
which the young Cynips are developed in the gall-
nuts, to solve an important physiological in-oblcm :

COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 63

As grease exists in tlie vegetable as well as in tlie
animal world^ it was an interesting question to know
whether animals derived tlieir fat wholly from vege-
tables, or whether this substance could be formed in
the animal body. The vegetable tumours in which
the larvae of the Cijnijps are found contain no grease
or oily matter, whilst the grub that grows in them
is remarkably fat ! It is evident, therefore, that
animals have the power of forming fat or grease by
means of the starch or other principles supplied by
vegetables.* The conditions under which fat is
most readily formed are indeed those in which the
larvae of the cynips live, namely, a vegetable or
farinaceous diet, repose, solitude, and obscurity.

It is not improbable that other insects besides
kermes, coccus, and cynips may become important
as dye-producers. Reaumur has spoken of an aphis
which produces galls in different parts of Asia, and
these galls are employed to dye silk a crimson colour.
Linnseus also speaks of the tinctorial properties of
Apliis inni, an insect common in our chmate, and
which produces a sort of gall-nut at the extremities
of the spruce fir. When these galls have attained
their maturity, says hC;, they burst and discharge a

* Dumas and Milne Edwards formerly arrived at the same
conclusion. They fed bees exclusively upon honey and sugar, and
found that they produced loax, an observation which Huber had
already made many years before.

64 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

yellow powder^ whicli stains tlie clotlies. A tree
common enougli in India, and wliicli is called Ter-
minalia citrina, yields a sort of gall, wliicli serves in
that country as a dye ; to it indeed the natives owe
their best and most durable yellow colour. It is
produced by a hitherto unknoTSTi insect. Among
the Httle "money- spider s^^ [Tromhidium) which
attract the attention of children in the garden about
spring, Tromhidium tinctorium is used in Guinea
and Surinam as a dj'e. I have observed that when
acid vegetable colours of a yellow tint can be
fixed upon silk, cotton, wool, etc., they can almost
always be tm^ned crimson by alkalies. It is im-
possible yet to say what influence the newly dis-
covered colour magenta will have upon the cochi-
neal production. But as carminium and magenta
are so very different in properties, it is probable
that the production of magenta dye "v\'ill not mate-
rially affect that of cochineal.

Insects producing Wax, Eesin, Honey, Manna.

Chinese Coccus which produces ou hind of Spermaceti
— Value of its (Produce — White Lac — Insects pro-
ducing-Iiesin — G-rey-vjax Insect of Sumatra — (J)etails
concerning- the uoax Coccus — ^ees — -Jlpis mellifioa —
Its native country — Virgil — -J/Iodern Jiuthors vuho
have written on ^ees — -Jlpis ligustica — -^. amal-
thea and its curious Jlests — ^amhuros — ^pis uni-
color — G-ree-n Honey of ^ourbon — Ilock-honey of
Jlorth Jlmerica — -fipis fasciata — fi. indica — -Jl.Jldan-
sonii — -jQ: swarm of ^ees — The Queen, J/Iales, and
Worhers — -J\A athematics of the ^ee-cell — Silk pro-
duced by ^ees — (production of V7ax — Sow Honey is
procured — (Plants favour able topees — (Z)urationof life
in ^ees — Enemies and JVLaladies — Chloroforming
^ees — -Jdr. Jsfutt's Hives — (Profit derived from ij'ee-
culture — JTeu) modes of (Preserving ^ees during
-winter — (Periodical transportation of Hives — How to
discover ^ees' Jlests — -JTevu species of ^ee at Sydney
— ^ees as Instruments of War — Honey, its JTature
and Composition — Jirtificial Honey from Wood,
Starch, etc. — -Joanna and the Coccus Jilaniparus —
Wax — Its JIature, Composition, and Uses.

INSECTS PKODUCIXa WAX, RESIN, HONEY,

MANNA.

'E must again turn to tlie genus Coccus, to
speak of a species of wax-producing in-
sect wMcli is attracting particular atten-
tion in France at tliis moment. This will
be better understood when it is known
that tlie Frenck pay four millions of francs
annually for wax ; and tke Coccus of wkick I speak
produces about ten millions of francs^ worth of wax
per annum. It is a Chinese insect, and the wax it
produces resembles spermaceti. It was first alluded
to by Grosier, who remarked that towards the
beginning of winter small tumours appear on the
trees it inhabits. These tumom^s increase in size
until they are as large as a walnut. He imagines
these to be the nests of the female insects ; they
are filled with eggs which hatch in the spring, and
the young insects disperse themselves on the leaves
and pierce the bark. The wax they produce — pro-
bably in the same manner that lac is joroduced by
Coccus lacca — is perfectly white, and known to the
Chinese as Pe-la (white wax). It begins to appear

68 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

about June^ and is gathered by tlie natives at tlie
beginning of September. Tlie quantity produced
in Cliina alone is_, according to Geomelli Careri^
sufficient to supply tlie whole nation with this useful
article. This insect^ with whose specific name we
are not yet acquainted, is cultivated chiefly in the
province of Xantung, like the cochineal in that of
Oaxaca, and there its breed has attained great per-
fection ; but it is also reared with more or less suc-
cess from the frontiers of Thibet to the Pacific
Ocean. The plant on which it lives is a species of
privet, Ligustrum lucidum, a Chinese shrub.

The chemical examination to which this wax has
been submitted, proves it to be superior to any yet
discovered, and shows that it bears a close resem-
blance to spermaceti.*

From what precedes it will be seen that the
acchmatization of this insect in France becomes an
exceedingly interesting problem. It appears pro-
bable, from observations we already possess, that the
Chinese spermaceti Coccus i^ not confined to China,
and that it, or at least some analogous insects pro-
ducing wax, are found in other parts of Asia. Dr.
Anderson formerh^ described as ?t7/z7(? ?aca substance
similar to the white wax of the Chinese Coccus, and

* This Cliinese wax must not be confounded with that called
vegetable wax, produced by palms and by several species of Aft/rica,
etc. (On these see Cook in the " Technologist," London, June, 1861.)

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX^ RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 69

wHcli, he said, could be produced in any quantity,
near Madras, at a mucli cheaper rate than beeswax.
And from De Azara's observations, a similar wax-
producing Coccus appears to abound on a small shrub
in South America.

So many trees [Falms, and Myrica, and Elms
especially) are known to produce excellent wax
without the aid of any insect, that we cannot always
decide at first whether this substance is the product
of the plant or of the insect.

Molina has shown that at Coquimbo in Chili
large quantities of resin are produced by several
species of the shrub Origanum, as a consequence of
the bite of an insect. The latter is a small red
caterpillar which changes into a yellowish moth with
black stripes on its wings {Phalcena ceraria, Mol.)
Early in the spring vast numbers of these caterpil-
lars collect upon the branches and buds of the tree,
where they form cells of a kind of white wax or
resin ; and in these cells they undergo their meta-
morphoses. The wax, which at first is very white,
becomes gradually yellow and then brown. It is
collected by the inhabitants in autumn ; they boil it
in water, and make it up into cakes, which go into
the markets. They use this wax instead of tar for
their boats.

There exists at Sumatra a species of winged ant
that produces a sort of grey wax. A sample of this

70 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

substance was exhibited at tlie Frencb Exhibition of
1855^ but we bave as yet no details concerning the
insect that produces it.

All the insects of the genus Coccus contain a
considerable amount of grease,, from wbicb stearine,
the element of our modern " wax-candles/^ has been
extracted ; moreover^ Berzelius extracted from
Coccus ijolonicus the acids which are contained in
butter ; and it is probable that butyric acid exists in
the whole genus.

The latest infonnation we have concerning the
spermaceti Coccus of the Chinese we owe to M.
Stanislas Jullien, who ascertained in 1840 tliat these
insects were cultivated indefatigably by the Chinese,
on three different sorts of plants^ with equal suc-
cess ; namely^ the plant they call nini-cldng , which
M. Brogniart tells us is the Rhus succedanea ; the
tong-tsing, which Thunberg says is Ligustrum gla-
hrum ; and the goukiuj a plant which grows in damp
places^ and is probably the Hibiscus 8yriacus, or
belonging to the same family as the latter. The
wax which is obtained from these trees abounds in all
the east and south provinces of China. It is col-
lected by scraping the trees in autumn, it is then
boiled in water, and strained through a cloth, after
which it is placed in cold water, when it becomes
solid, and then resembles soap-stone or steatite.
The youug insects, according to M. Stanislas Jul-

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX^ RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 71

lien, are hatclied from eggs of a considerable size,
and cover the trees about June. They are soon ob-
served to secrete a sort of viscous liquid, whicli
adheres to the branches, and transforms itself slowly
into a kind of grease or white wax. In September
this grease adheres so firmly to the branches that it
is difficult to remove it. The more sap the tree
yields the more wax the insect produces ; it would,
therefore, be interesting to try the effects of some
of our artificial manures upon these trees and their
insect burden. The insect appears to nourish itself
upon the sugar contained in the sap, which it trans-
forms into a liquid grease, becoming solid on con-
tact with the air. Although insects are certainly
instrumental in causing the production of several
varieties of wax, it is not proved that they promote
the formation of the Japan wax furnished by Rhus
succedaneciy a plant extensively cultivated in Japan
and China. The wax of this shrub is now being
imported in England in enormous quantities.

I must now allude to bees. I really dread the
task of saying anything about these insects, so fami-
liar to all, and upon which so many useful and in-
structive volumes have ah'eady been written ; but
on account of their utility to man, bees have long
since been placed upon the first rank among domes-
ticated animals. An ancient historian, Niebuhr,
states that he met between Cairo and Damietta a

72 , UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

convoy of 4000 liives^ wliicli were being transported
from a region where the season for flowers had
passed^ to one where the summer was later.

Our domestic hive-bee {Airls mellifica, Fig.
6) appears to be a native of Greece ;* from whence
it was subsequently introduced
into the different countries of
Europe. It is a well-known
fact that the education or rear-
ing of bees attained to great
Fig. 6— Apis meiiifica perfection amouff the ancient

(Hive-bee). ^ °

Greeks,, more especially among
the inhabitants of Attica ; the honey of the latter
country was always considered extremely fine. An-
cient philosophers looked upon bees as forming part
of the universal soul of the world, and believed that
the sweets upon which they lived made them parti-
cipate in divine nature ; thus, we see the ancient
poets celebrating the works of the bee, making
known their habits and writing their history. It
was from these sources that Virgil collected ideas,
added to them the results of his own observa-
tions, and produced the charming verses of his

^^ Georgica."

Among the moderns the following are the names
of distinguished entomologists who have written
considerably on bees : — H. Huber, P. Huber,
* Most authors agree upon this point.

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX^ RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 73

Reaumur, Bonnet, Latreille, Needliani, Kirby,
Swammerdam, Kirby and Spence, Mills, Tliorley,
Hunter, Keys, Bonner, Scbirocli, Bevan, etc., etc.

Ajjis mellifica, tbe domestic bee, reared in bives,
is the same tbrougbout Europe, except in some parts
of Italy, the Morea, and some of tbe Grecian isles,
wbere another species is cultivated, tbe Ains ligus-
ilea (?) of Spinola. Tbe domestic bee [A. mellifica)
is found wild in tbe forests of Russia, and some
parts of Asia, wbere it builds its nests in bollow
trees. Anotber kind of bee, tbe Apis amaltliea of
Latreille, is found at Cayenne, wbere it builds curi-
ously-sbaped nests upon tbe tops of bigb trees;
tbese nests are sometbing bke a bagpipe. Tbey are
seen also in Soutb America, and furnisb large quan-
tities of boney, but tbis boney, tbougb very sweet
and agreeable, is very bquid and dbSicult to keep, as
it easily ferments.

Anotber species of wild bee, wbicb bas been
called Bamhuros, is very plentiful in tbe woods of
Ceylon, wbere it is eaten as a delicacy, tbougb it
furnisbes a considerable barvest of boney to tbe
peasants.

In tbe Ukraine some of tbe country people, we are
told, derive more profit from tbe sale of tbeir boney
tban from tbeir corn; some peasants keeping as many
as 500 bives eacb. Tbe Indians of Paraguay, tbe
natives of tbe Isle of Bourbon, of Madagascar, etc..

74 UTILIZATION OF ]!J:iXUTE LIFE.

live, to a great extent, upon tlie lioney of tlie bee.
The honey exported from the Isle of Bourbon is the
product of Ajns unicolor, Latreille ; it is of a green
colour and oily consistency, and has an aromatic
flavour.

In Xorth America there is a bee which suspends
clusters of thirty or forty wax cells, resembling a
bunch of grapes, to the rocks. Its honey is called
rock-honey. It is very clear and thin, somewhat
like water.

The honey contained in the hives that Xiebuhr
met upon the Kile was the product of Apis fas-
data, a species of bee extensively cultivated in
Egypt.

Apis unicolor has been domesticated in Mada-
gascar; Apis indica is educated in some parts of
India; and Apis Adansonii has been extensively
reared in Senegal.

Although in Spain the number of hives is very
great — we read of an old parish priest who had 5000 !
— in France the cultivation of the bee is not so much
attended to.

The honey of Apis mellifica, L., is imported (from
Europe, Asia^ and America, chiefly from Lisbon) to
Liverpool, at the rate of about twenty- seven tons a
year. Wax is imported from Europe, Asia, Africa,
and America, at the rate of twenty-five tons per
annum into Liverpool alone.

INSECTS PRODUCING WAXj EESIN^ HONEY, MANNA. 75

Until very recently,* nearly tlie wliole of tlie
wax employed in Europe, and most of tliat con-
sumed in America, was tlie produce of tlie Mve bee.

A swarm of bees is composed of one female
(generally known as the queen-bee), from 600 to
1200 males, and from 15,000 to 30,000 working bees,
whicli liave no sex. Aristotle used to call the chief
of the hive the hing-hee. The working-bee would
have become a female had it attained its perfect
development — a fact discovered by Mdlle. Jurine, a
lady who first dissected the working-bee ; but whilst
in the larvae state, being fed upon a small allowance
of food, and bred in small cells, its growth is
impeded, its ovaries avert, and it comes forth
definitely as a working-bee.

The female (the queen) only comes out of the
hive or nest upon two occasions : the first at the
period of coupling, when she soars in the air with
a host of males, one of which is finally chosen as
her mate. This one dies almost immediately after-
wards, and the female returns to the hive. The
queen-bee has thus become fertile for one year —
often for her whole life. As soon as the males
return to the hive they are unmercifully put to
death by the working-bees. The male-bees (drones)
have no sting. This takes place about August.

* At present there is a considerable importation of vegetable

76

UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Forty- eight liours after the female bee has returned
to the hive she begins to deposit her eggs in the cells
destined to receive them. During the first summer
few eggs are laid (principally those from which
" workers'' emerge) . In winter the laying ceases,
to re-commence in the spring_, when, in about three
weeks, more than 12,000 eggs are deposited by the
same queen-bee, which begin to hatch in three or
four days.

In a single season a queen-bee will sometimes
lay from 70,000 to 100,000 eggs. Reaumur says
that upon an average she ^vill lay 200 in a day.

The queen-bee must be eleven months old before
she can produce eggs which produce males, and still
older before the eggs she lays will bring forth
female bees.

The second occasion on which the female-bee
leaves the hive or nest is when a new female has
been born, and emigration becomes necessary. It
is then that siuarming takes place. When a swarm
issues from the hive, it is customary among the
peasants to make a noise, to throw sand into the
air, and to imitate a storm. The bees then fix
themselves in a cluster to some object, from which
they are shaken into the new hive.

One word upon the queen-bee. She is always
born in one of the royal cells, which arc larger than
the others. She receives a particular kind of nourish-

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 77

ment while in tlie larva state, and if by any accident
the queen-bee of a hive is lost or killed, the remain-
ing bees have the power of nourishing any of their
common lai'vge in such a manner as to produce a
queen.*

A word upon the working bees. There are two
varieties : the wax makers and the nurses. The
former are large and robust, they fly into the
country to collect the pollen and sugar of flowers ;
the others, less strong, remain in the hivej their duty
is to feed the young larvae.

A beautiful example of applied mathematics is
furnished by the bee-cell. Each cell of the honey-
comb is a hexagon, the base of which is composed
of three rhomboidal plates so composed as to contain
the largest amount of honey with the least quantity
of wax.t

Lord Brougham, in a paper read at the Paris
Academy (May, 1858), asserts that the cells of the
larvae of bees are lined with a species of silk ; when
the wax is separated there remains behind what
appears to be a very fine tissue of silk.

It is now beyond doubt that the wax of the bee
is not taken from the vegetable world, but is pro-
duced by the insect itself. The fact was ascertained

* See on this Kirby and Spence " Introduction to Entomology."
Lond, 1858, pp. 361, 362, et seq.

t See Kirby and Spence, loc cit, p. 273.

78 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

by Tliorlej in 1 744_, and afterwards by Hnber^ wlio
described tlie organs^ situated on eacli side of the
abdomen, wbicL. secrete the wax in tlie sbape of
thin plates.

Honey, on tlie contrary, consists of the sugar
which is taken directly from the nectaries of the
flowers. It is lapped up from these curious parts
of the flower by the tongue of the bee, and trans-
mitted into the first stomach or honey-bag of the
insect. It is never found in any other part of the
bee^s body. "Whien the insect is laden it returns to
the hive, and disgorges the honey into cells which
are destined to receive it.

Plants which are pecuHarly adapted to the bee
are species of Echiumy Borago, Verhasciom, Thymus,
and the Crucifera. In some countries bees attach
themselves to particular plants ; for instance, in the
Highlands of Scotland and in Sweden, to the Erica,
or heath-plant ; in Scania, to the buckwheat ; in
Poland, to the lime-tree ; in Narbonne, to rose-
mary ; in Greece, to thyme ; in Corsica, to the
arbutus ; in Sardinia, to the Artemisia, etc. ; and
hence arises the difi'erent flavours and quahties of
honey in the several European markets. Other
plants appear to be avoided by bees : thus the
poisonous nectar of the oleander, which proves
fatal to thousands of flies, wiU not be touched by
the bee. But a few cases are on record of bees

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, EESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 79

gatliering poisonous honey, and causing extensive
mortality among those who eat it.

The duration of the Hfe of bees has been a sub-
ject of controversy. Yirgil and Phny say seven
years, other writers ten ; but of the five hundred
bees which Keaumur marked with red paint in the
month of April, not one was li\dng in November ;
and more modern authors state that the working
bees are annual insects, but that the queen may
live two years. We have already seen that the
males die every year. However, by a succession of
generations hives have been preserved for more
than five and twenty years ; and Thorley states that
a swarm of bees that took possession of a spot
under the leads of the study of Ludovicus Vivos, in
Oxford, in 1520, were still there in 1630. They
had therefore propagated their race in this spot for
a period of one hundred and ten years.

The enemies of bees are mice, rats, swallows, and
other insectivorous birds, wasps, ants, and some other
insects. They are also subject to certain diseases,
such as dysentery, indigestion, etc. Hives should
be placed in a quiet spot, away from noise ; if wasps'
nests exist in the neighbourhood, they should be
destroyed ; ants' nests likewise ; and frogs, toads,
ants, spiders, etc., must be kept away. Bears and
foxes are very fond of honey. When a person ap-
proaches a hive, he should speak mezza-voce, as the

80 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Italians say ; and if tlie bees appear hostile^ lie will
do well to stoop down. Liquid ammonia is em-
ployed with success to cure tlie effects of their
sting.

Mr. Nutt's system of Hve appears to be held
in esteem upon the Continent. It is no longer
necessary to kill these useful insects in order to
procure their honey^ as every apiarist knows they
may be fumigated or "chloroformed^^ in different
ways. The fumes produced by bm-ning fungi permit
the cultivator to attain this end without the loss of
his bees. Of these fungi the common puff-ball
(Lycoperdon) is to be preferred; its fames act upon
animals Kke chloroform_, as Dr. Eichardson has
proved by several experiments. The asphyxiation
of bees by the puff-ball fungus has been practised
by Messrs. Blondel and Cossart with success_, thus :
A hole is made in the earth a few inches deep,
and wide enough to hold a plate, under which is
placed a towel. Four or five puff-balls, perfectly
dry, are passed on to a long iron pin and hghted.
The pin is then stuck into one of the sides of the
excavation, and the hole covered with the bee-hive,
the ends of the towel being pulled up and fastened
against the hive by the loose earth, the smoke is
prevented from escaping. In four or five minutes
the hive may be lifted up ; all the bees are found
upon the plate in a state of insensibility. This

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 81

operation is best performed at about four o^clock in
the afternoon. Wben tlie bees are again placed in
the hive, the opening of the latter is nearly closed,
so that they may not make their escape when
animation returns. The next morning they are
permitted to go out, and are as lively as before.
But Mr. Nutt^s system of hive, where the honey is
taken from the top, without suffocating the bees,
renders this operation unnecessary.

The profit derived from the cultivation of bees
has been often much exaggerated. Large fortunes
are not more easily realized by this undertaking
than by other means. Bees require a great deal of
attention, and to reahze a profit at all the cultivator
must, in most cases, submit to a considerable
amount of trouble, and often to no little anxiety.

The sales of swarms , luax, and honey are the
three elements or basis upon which bee-culture
rests. The best time for purchasing swarms is in
the month of October. On honey and wax we
shall say a few words presently.

The production of a hive depends principally
upon the mildness of the climate. In the environs
of Paris there are bee-hives which realize a pure
profit of twelve to twenty-four francs a year.
These figures may be taken as a sort of criterion in
our climate. Those who occupy themselves with
the rearing of bees should possess " Les Obsen^a-

G

82 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

tions sur les Abeilles/^ by H. Huber, of Geneva ;
" Les Nouvelles Observations/^ by tbe same author,
noted by P. Huber; also tbe works of Reaumur,
and tbose of tbe Eng-lisli authors whose names we
have already mentioned.

The principal losses experienced in bee- culture
occur during the winter ; they arise either from the
bee-keeper having, with a miserly hand, deprived
the insects of too much honey, or from a bad mode
of preserving the hives through the winter season.

1st. To ascertain whether a sufficient supply of
honey has been reserved the average weight of the
hives must be consulted.

2nd. M. Penard-Masson, a French apiarist,
assures us that he has derived considerable benefit
and presei'ved throughout the winter hives which
othei'wise would have perished, by turning a certain
number of bees out of a hive where the supply of
honey is too small, into one where there exists an
excess of nourishment.

But one of the newest and most original methods
of preserving bees during winter is that lately
discovered by M. Antoine of Pheims. His process
consists in hurying the hives with great care, and as
quietly as possible. About the 15th of November,
a ditch, a good depth, and wide enough to contain all
the hives that are to be interred, is dug in the mid-
dle of a field, away from any road or thoroughfare.

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 83

The hives are placed in it with the utmost care,
avoiding as much as possible motion and noise.
Their sides are protected with boards and straw, and
the whole is then covered with the earth removed in
digging the ditch. Seeds are immediately sown
over the spot, to hide more completely the buried
treasure. The excavation is opened on the 15th of
February follomng, and the bees removed with the
same care as before. These operations are executed
in the evening.

By this system, it appears that the bees con-
sume three-fifths less nourishment than if they had
not been buried, the mortality in the hives is almost
nil, and the queen begins to lay three weeks sooner
than usual. I should imagine that porous ground
should be chosen in preference to a heavy clay soil,
for burying the hives.

Mr. Newport in his paper published in the
^^Philosophical Transactions^^ for 1837, has joroved
that in our climate bees are never, strictly speaking,
torpid during the winter season, but preserve
throughout it a certain degree of activity.

Towards the end of October, when the inunda-
tions of the Nile have ceased, and the peasants can
sow their land, sainfoin (Hedysarum) is one of the
first plants sown, and as Upper Egypt is warmer
than Lower Egypt sainfoin fiowers first in the former
district. At this time, according to Kirby, bee-

84 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

hives are transported in boats from all parts of
Egypt into tlie upper district^ and are tlien heaped
in pyramids upon other boats prepared to receive
them. In this station they remain some days, and
are then removed lower down, where they remain
the same time ; and so they proceed until the month
of February, when, having traversed Egypt, and
arrived at the sea, they are dispersed to their several
owners. A similar trransportation of hives occurs in
Persia, Asia-Minor, Greece, sometimes in Italy,
and even in England in the neighbourhoods of
heaths.

The honey-hunters of New England seek the
wild bees' nests in the following manner : — ^^Vhilst
the sun shines brightly a plate containing honey is
set upon the ground. It soon attracts the bees, who
feed greedily upon it until their honey-bag is filled.
Having secured two or three that are thus satiated
the hunter allows one to escape. The insect rises
in the air, and being completely laden, flies straight
towards its nest. The bee-hunter then strikes oflP
for a few hundred yards at right angles to the course
taken by the first bee, and lets fly another ; he ob-
serves its course with his pocket compass. The
point where the two courses intersect each other is
the spot where the nest is situated.

The huUetin of the Paris " Society d' Acclima-
tization'' for 1856 announces the discovery of a new

INSECTS PRODUCING \YAX_, EESIN^ HONEY^ MANNA. 85

species of bee (Ains) at Sydney, It inhabits tlie
boliow portions of decayed trees, lives together in
prodigious numbers, appears to have no sting, and
produces a brown-coloured wax, and an excellent
description of honey. This is all we know of it at
present. If it has no sting, it is probably not an
Apis.

In time of war, the ancient Egyptians used to
place implicit trust in their sacred beetles ; but bees
have been employed as more efficacious instruments
of war. Lesser reports that in 1525 a mob of pea-
sants, who endeavoured to pillage the house of a
gentleman, were dispersed by the servants of the
latter, who flung some ten or twenty bee-hives into
the mob. We have read somewhere than an Ame-
rican slave ship was boarded and captured by means
of bee-hives.

Honey is formed from the sugar secreted in the
nectaries of flowers. It is composed of two distinct
kinds of sugar, known to chemists as grape-sugar
and hquid sugar, which both differ essentially from
cane or beet-root sugar, though their composi-
tion is similar. They are less sweet than the latter.
Liquid- sugar cannot be made to crystallize like the
other varieties.

The sweet liquid extracted from the nectaries of
flowers possesses most of the properties we observe
in the honey of the bee. Some flowers contain a

86 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

considerable quantity,, sucli are^ for instance^, tlie
trumpet-lioneysuckle^ whose sugar is out of tlie bee^s
reacb, and the Coboea scandens, eacli flower of
wbicli contains abnost enougb sugar to sweeten a
cup of coffee.

But there is an important difference between
honey and the sweet juice of the nectaries of flowers.
The former contains no cane-sugar^ whilst the latter^
as Braconnot has shown, yields by eyaporation some
crystals of cane-sugar. The Rhododendron jjonticum
and the Cactus Akermanni were found to contain so
notable a proportion that one corolla of the latter
gaye as much as one -tenth of a gramme of crystal-
lized cane sugar. It is eyident, therefore, that this
cane-sugar of flowers is conyerted into grape sugar
in the honey -bag or the cells of the bee.

When honey is allowed to stand for some time,
it gradually thickens and consolidates. By pressure
in a hnen bag it may then be separated into a white
sohd sugar — called grape sugar, as it is found in
grapes and raisins — and a thick semi-fluid syrup,
called hquid sugar. Grape sugar is better extracted
by placing the honey upon a porous brick, which
absorbs all the liquid sugar, whilst the grape sugar
crystallizes at the surface.

The liquid sugar of honey often contains odori-
ferous substances produced by the flowers from
which it has been extracted. To these the honey

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN_, HONEY_, MANNA. 87

owes a certain fragrance or flavour for whicli it is
mucli prized. Sucli is tlie case witli tlie honey of
Mount Ida, in Crete ; hence also the perfume of
Narbonne honey, of the honey of Chamounix, and
of our own moorland honey when the heather is in
bloom.

Honey is extracted from the comb by gently
heating the latter and letting as much as possible
run out, When no more can be extracted in this
manner, the comb is again gently heated and
pressed. Hence two distinct qualities of honey.
The comb which has been pressed is treated with
water, and furnishes a liquid which, on being fer-
mented, produces hydromel, a sort of vinous hquid
employed in medicine. Finally the combs are
placed in sacks and submitted to the action of boil-
ing water to obtain the wax. Honey is employed
as an agreeable ahment ; it is used in various forms
for medicinal purposes, and enters into the compo-
sition of gingerbread.

Honey can be artificially made by boiling wood,
linnen, cotton, or starch in water acidulated with sul-
phuric acid. The liquid is allowed to boil from ten
to twenty hours, and the water replaced as it evapo-
rates. The acid liquid is then saturated with chalk,
filtered, and evaporated, when a syrup resembling
honey is obtained. This syrup is indeed composed
of grape sugar, mixed with a small quantity of

88 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

liquid sugar; and tMs^ as we liave seen^ is the
composition of honey. This discovery is owed to
Braconnot.

Mannite_, the sweet principle of nianna_, has been
foundj though rarely^ in some kinds of honey.

The manna that is used as an agreeable food in
the East, and with us as a purgative for children,
is caused to flow from the Tamarix mannifera (Fig.
7), by the punctures of a small insect. Coccus mani-
j>aruH. But it is essentially a vegetable product,

Fig. 7.— Tamarix mannifera (Manna-bearing Tamarix).
1. Shrub twelve feet high. 2. Branch wiih fruit.

being obtained from the sap of the ash tree {Frax-
inns ornus, F. rohindifolia, etc.). The Httle green
aphides of the lime tree appear, however, to secrete
mannite from their bodies, on account of which
they are captured and reared by ants as we breed
cows for their milk. But it has not yet been
proved that any animals produce mannite directly,
though sugar rs a common product of the animal

INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, EESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 89

economy. Besides the different varieties of asli,
tlie tamarix, and seaweeds,* a sort of manna is pro-
duced in Australia and Van Diemen^s Land by the
Eucalyptus resinifera. At certain seasons of tlie year
a sweet substance exudes from the leaves of this
tree, and dries in the sun, and when the wind blows
hard enougrh to shake the trees, the manna falls hke
a shower of snow. Certain oaks, larches, pines,
cedars, etc., produce a similar substance. The cedar-
manna, which is brought from Mount Lebanon, is
the product of Pinus cedrus — it sells for twenty or
thirty shillings an ounce. The manna collected by
the Arabs for food in the desert, is the product of
Hedysarum alhagi, L., a plant which is indigenous
over a large portion of the East. That of Mount
Sinai is obtained from the Tamarix before alluded
to. The Coccus mamiijjcirus infests this tree, from
which the manna exudes as a thick S}T:'up, which,
during the heat of the day, falls in drops, but dur-
ing the night congeals and is gathered in the cool
of the morning.

On beeswax I have little to say. The best and
whitest wax is that taken during the month of
March. The nature of wax has been very com-
pletely investigated by Dr. Levy of Paris, to whose
admirable paper {'' Annales de Chimie,^^ xiii. p. 438)

* On the production of Mannite by seaweeds, see my i.)aper in
•' Comptes Eendus," Paris, 1st Dec, 1856.

90 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

I must refer my readers. We liave already seen
how it is produced by the bee^ the Chinese Coccus,
and the manner in which it is extracted from the
honeycomb. We have also seen that wax is pro-
duced by many vegetables, amongst others by the
cabbage ; it is also found in the pollen of flowers,
from which it was long supposed the bees procured
it. But the wax contained in pollen difiers from
beeswax ; it is the substance known as propolis,
which the bees use to fill up fissures in the nest or
hive. The wax of the honeycomb can be separated
into two distinct substances by means of spirits of
wine ; the first, called cerine, dissolves in boihng
spirit, and the liquid on cooling deposits it in white
gelatinous crystals. The substance which remains
undissolved is myricine, which does not crystallize.

Wax is still employed in considerable quantities
(in spite of the discovery of stearine candles) for
candles used in Roman Catholic churches. It has
of late years been notably employed in photo-
graphy, to wax the paper and render it translucide.
The wax produced by certain wild bees, called
MelUpona, and gathered at Costa Rica, in the Island
of Cuba, etc., has lately been applied to the manu-
facture of lithographic ink. Finally wax is em-
ployed for an infinite number of minor uses, for
making anatomical models, busts, dolls, etc.

I

Insects Employed in Medicine, or as Pood, and other
Insects useful to Man.

Spanish Flies — Cantharides — ^heirjdediocul (properties
— Cantharidine — Cantharides in (Poitou — (X>ifferent
Bpeoies of Cantharides — (X)isGovery of Gantharidine
inJ\/Leloe — ^he JKeloe, or Oil ^eetle — -JAetamorphoses
ofJVLeloe and Bitaris — Qetonia jxiMrata — Goooinella —
Trehala — ^uprestis — Jlnts — Formio and^ JVL alia ^ aids
injints — (production of J\^ilh from the Eg-g-s of Jlnts
— :^nts ivhioh oolleot (Precious Stones — Termes as an

Jirticle of Food., etc. — Locusts and, Cicadce — -jxcri/dium
mig-ratorium — 91'he Ethiopian Jlcrydophaghi — Ci-
cada septemdecim — ^ugs and^ Fleas — Southey —
(Phtirophaghi — Jlranea edulis — Centipedes — '^he

JAexican ^oat Flies — ^eetle used for Soap — Calan-
d^ra g-ranaria — (Presence of Tannic and (j-allic Jlcids
in this ^eetle — Fire Flies — 'druffle Flies — 9^he Com-
mon House Fly, etc. — I^emarkable j^ction of Light
upon flnimal Life — G-rovAh of Insects under the
Influence of differently Coloured Light.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OE AS
FOOD, AND OTHER INSECTS USEFUL
TO MAN.

NE of tlie most important insects, in a medical
point of view, is tlie beetle called Spanisli
fly [Gantliarides), of whicli tliere are many
species, all dangerous poisons. They are
employed outwardly for tlieir blistering and
exciting properties, and inwardly, for various dis-
orders, as an energetic stimulant.

Tlieir poisonous action manifests itself by violent
irritation of tlie membranes of tbe stomach and
intestines. Tbe vesicatory or blistering property of
these beetles is owing to Cantliaridine, a principle
extracted from them by Robiquet, and studied by
Gmelin. They contain also a peculiar volatile oil,
mentioned by Orfila, but of wbicli little is yet
known, except that it appears to be this oil which
gives Gantliarides their peculiar odour.

Cantharidine crystallizes in small white crystals,
soluble in ether and boiling alcohol. This substance
is only capable of producing inflammation or blis-
tering; the exciting or aphrodisiac action of Can-

94 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

tharides is owed to some otlier principle as yet
unknown, as Scliroff lias lately shown.

M. Babinet lias informed me that in some
parts of France, more especially in Poit on, asli- trees
are never planted, because tlie quantity of Cantha-
rides that breed upon tliese trees soon becomes
intolerable to tlie inbabitants of tbe district.

In our climate, Cantliarides are to be found upon
tbe lilac, tbe privet, and some otber sbrubs. Tbey
are very plentiful in Spain (bence tbeir appellation,
'^ Spanish fly^^):, Italy, Sicily, etc., but comparatively
rare in England, where they are only to be met
with now and then in the southern counties.

Of these beetles, the Cantliarides vesicatoria of
Geoffrey and Latreille is most frequently found in
commerce ; it is distinguished by its strong and
peculiar odour, its wing-sheaths or elytra of metallic
green, and its black antenna or horns. In America,
two other species, namely, Cantliarides cinerea and
0. xittata, being extremely common and noxious
insects, are more frequently used than C. vesicatoria.
In India, 0. gigas and C. violacea are employed ; in
Sumatra and Java, C. rificeps ; in Brazil, C. atoma-
ria ; in Arabia, C. syriaca ; in China, certain species
of Mylahris, a genus closely allied to Cantliarides.

The real Spanish fly, C. vesicatoria, Latr., is
imported into Liverpool from Italy at the average
rate of three hundredweight per annum.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE OR AS FOOD. 95

^

Our readers are probably all acquainted with tlie
Meloe proscaraheoeus (Fig. 8)_, or oil-beetle. It
derives its name from tbe
fact that, wlien taken into
the hand or otherwise irri-
tated, it secretes a fragrant
oily fluid, to which have

been attributed the most Fia. S.-Meloe proscarabe^us

wonderful qualities; amongst (Oii-beetie).

others, that of infallibly curing rheumatism ! This
large beetle is easily recognized by its dark violet
colour, its elytra, which are oval, and so short that
they do not cover more than one-third of the
insect's body. Late in the ^-^rijig, Meloe proscara-
heceus is often seen in our fields and on the hedge-
banks, drawing its heavy body slowly over the
damp grass. To preserve it in insect collections,
its body must be stuffed with cotton-wool, otherwise
it shrinks to an incredibly small bulk.

Sobrero and Lavini have recently discovered
Cayitharadine in insects belonging to this genus
Meloe f which is closely allied to the genus Gantha-
rides, more so, indeed, than that of Mylahris, men-
tioned above. In Spain, these oil-beetles, or Meloe,
are still used in lieu of Spanish fly.

M. Fabre, a very distinguished entomologist,
has recently made knoT^Ti some facts relating to
Meloe and the alhed genera Sitaris, which are so

96 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

curious tliat I think tliey may safely be related
here : —

Tlie insects belonging to the two genera^ Meloe and
Sitaris, together perhaps with the whole tribe^ are,
in theu' early stages of life, parasitical insects, living
upon the bodies of certain honey-making Hymen-
oijtera. From M. Fabre^s account, it appears that
their larvce, before arriving at the pupa or clirysalis
state, go through no less than four distinct meta-
morphoses. The author finds himself obliged to
invent new names to designate these newly-dis-
covered phases of insect life. He therefore denotes
them primitive la.rva, second larva, pseudo-chrysalis,
and third larva . The passage of one of these forms
to the other is effected by a simple process of
moulting, or throwing off of the outer skin ; the
viscera remaining unchanged.

The primitive larva is a hard, crusty little being.
It lives on the bodies of Hymenoptera (bees, etc.)
until it is transported to the nest and finds itself
deposited in the bee-cell. Once there it soon
devours the oflPspring of the Hymenoptera. The
second larva, which is developed in the cell, lives
upon the honey. It is much softer than the former.
The pseudo-chrysaHs resembles a piece of hard
gutta-percha, it is quite devoid of motion, its sheath
is of a hard horny substance, upon which can be
observed the rudiments of a head and six small

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE^ OR AS FOOD. 97

tubercles, rudiments of feet. The third larva bears
a strict resemblance to the second larva. From this
stage the usual metamorphoses of insect life begin,
and follow out their ordinary course : this third larva
becomes first a chrysalis, from which it emerges as
a perfect insect.

Other coleopterous insects are endowed with
inflammatory or blistering properties. Such, for
instance, is the Cetonia aurata, or golden beetle,
which was employed in the time of PHny, and which
plays such an ingenious part in the tale of Edgar
Poe. Such again are the Goccinella, or lady-birds,
which, when captured, secrete from their legs an
acrid yellow fluid having a disagreeable odour.
It is doubtless to this fluid that they owe their
property of curing the most violent toothache when
they are placed alive in the hollow part of the
tooth.

A pharmaceutical substance, known as Trehala,
has lately been studied by M. Guibourt. It is a
kind of insect-nest or hollow cocoon, round or oval,
about the size of a large olive, and is the produce of
a coleopterous insect (or beetle) closely allied to the
genus CurcuUo, and named Larinas nidificans. This
insect lives on the branches of a shrub, a species of
Ec?u7io2ys.

The trehala is composed of 66 '54 parts of starch,
4'66 of a kind of gum, and 28*80 of sugar, mixed

H

98 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

with a small quantity of some bitter principle, and
mineral salts. In tlie East tliis substance is as mucb
used as salep or tapioca. It was first noticed in
Spna. Wlien placed in water it swells considerably,
becomes soft, and finally transforms the liquid into
a sweet mucilaginous decoction. M. Berthelot has
just extracted a new kind of sugar from this cocoon.
It resembles cane-sugar to a certain extent, and
has been called trehalose.

The wing-cases or elytra of that beautiful Indian
beetle, Biiprestis vittosta, are occasionally imported
from Calcutta to Liverpool, They have a bright
metallic green lustre, and are employed to ornament
Klms-'khus baskets, fans, etc., and on mushns to
enrich the embroidery. Khus-khus or vitiver is the
dried root or rhizome of a grass, Andropogon muri-
catus (Retzius). This sweet-scented root arnves
here now and then from India. It is made into
baskets, fans, mats, sachets for the wardi-obe, etc. ;
which are often most sumptuously decorated with
the wings of Bu]3restis vittata.

Ants [Formica) are useful insects in a variety* of
ways. By distilling them a peculiar substance called
formic acid passes over — but it can be obtained with
greater ease and economy from starch* — in the
residue that remains is found a certain proi^ortion

* By distiUing starch with dilute sulphuric acid and peroxide of
manganese.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS FOOD. 99

of malic acid, an acid first discovered in the
apple.

Certain large ants, called Guimij in the Brazils
are eaten by the natives, and so is another large
species called Tamajoura. In Africa ants are some-
times stewed with butter, and considered delicious.
In Sweden they have been distilled with rye to give
a peculiar flavour to brandy. By submitting ant-
eggs to pressm-e, the chemist John produced a kind
of milk resembUng a mixture of milk and chocolate.
This Hquid, upon analysis, was found indeed to con-
tain albumen, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, a matter
resembling casein, and a yellow grease like butter,
so that its composition as well as its taste resembles
that of ordinary milk.

Ants are also very useful to medical students, in
preparing skeletons of small animals, such as moles,
rats, etc. The dead body of any of these animals
being placed in or near an ants^ nest is soon reduced
to a very clean skeleton. Other insects might also
perhaps be used for this purpose.

On the high plateaux of the Rocky Mountains,
according to Humboldt, there exists a species of
ant, which, instead of useing fragments of wood
and vegetable remains for the purpose of building
its dwelling, employs only small stones of the size
of a grain of maize. The instinct of the insect
leads it to select the most brilHant stones for this

100 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

purpose,, and tliese ant-hills are frequently filled
with transparent quartz and garnets. At Capula
Humboldt found the ant-hills filled with shining
grains of obsidian and sanidine.

Ants belong to the family of Hymenoptera (bees,
cynips, etc.) ; but there are insects called wliite ants
[Termes) which belong to the family of Neurojptera
(dragon flies, ephemera, etc.). The latter are very
useful to man in certain parts of the world as an
article of food, though they certainly are most ter-
rible enemies to our habitations and furniture. In
France there are numerous examples of old houses,
or large pieces of furniture falling in, as a conse-
quence of the mining operations of the Termes, De
Quatrefages recommends us to destroy them by
means of a current of chlorine gas directed into
their galleries, as Thenard once effected the de-
struction of the rats of Paris by means of sulphu-
retted hydrogen.*

In the torrid zone, where the Termes abound,
they build nests like hills, eleven or twelve feet
high, which are often mistaken at a distance for the
huts of the natives. Their habits are as interesting

* The British Grovemment has lately applied to the Entomological
Society to know the best means of destroying the white ants which
infett certain of our colonies. Several remedies (arsenic- soap, lime,
corrosive sublimate) were hinted at by the members, but chlorine
was not mentioned.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE_, OR AS FOOD. 101

as those of bees ; but we must refer our readers to
special works on entomology for a description of
these. The Hottentots eat them boiled or raw ;
they serve as food in the East Indies. The Africans
roast them in iron pots and eat them by handfuls,
as we do sugar-plums. They resemble in taste
(according to Smeathman) sugared cream^ or sweet
almond paste. They constitute an extremely nutri-
tious article of diet.

Many parts of the world^ and great portions of
Europe are often ravaged by certain species of
locustS;, chiefly by the species AcrycUum miyratorium
(Fig. 9) J which I have found as far north as Ostend

Fig. 9.— Acrydium migratorium (Locust).

(in 1857, in which year a dead locust was also picked
up in the Strand in London). The devastations
caused by these well known insects have sometimes
penetrated to the heart of France. They certainly
destroy large quantities of food, but in return they
furnish to the inhabitants of the countries to which

102 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

their visits are most common_, excellent repasts.
The Arabs^ the Eg}^Dtians^ the Tartars^ the inhabi-
tants of Barbary_, etc._, relish these locusts as much
as the Greeks enjoy their Cicada; hence locusts are
always to be found for sale in the market-places of
these people. Indeed cart-loads of them are brought
to Fez as a usual article of food ; and the Africans^
far fi'om dreading their invasions^ look upon a dense
cloud of locusts as we should so much bread and
butter in the air. They smoke them_, or boil them,
or salt them, or stew them, or grind them down as
corn, and get fat upon them !

The custom has j)revailed for many centuries,
for Diodores tells us that from this cii^umstance
was derived the denomination of Acrydopliaghi, or
eaters of locusts, given to some Ethiopian tribes.*

Locusts belong to the family of Ort]i02:)tera.

Cicada, another race of insects belonging to the
family of Eemiptera (or bugs), were formerly em-
ployed as an article of food.

Aristotle, Aristophanes, Athenaeus, and ^lian
among the ancients, mention Cicada as an article of
diet. These noisy insects were formerly much
relished by the Greeks, but their taste for them
appears to have been neglected from some unknown

* The camels of the Arabs eat cooked locusts readily ; deprived
of their heads, legs, and wings, and stewed in butter, they are
eaten by the Arabs themselves.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS FOOD. 103

cause. They are still eaten by the American Indians,
who boil a speciesknown as Cicada se2:)temdecim, which
is eaten raw by the natives of New South Wales.

Concerning bugs [Cimex), which belong to the
same family as Gicada, although they abound in
some parts of Paris and London_, we know of no use
whatever that could be made of them ! Southey
once remarked, '^ We have not taken animals
enough into alliance with us. The more spiders
there were in the stable the less would the horses
suflPer from flies. The fire-fly [Elater noctiluca)
should be imported into Spain to destroy mos-
quitoes. In hot countries a reward should be ofiered
to the man who could discover what insects feed
upon fleas.^^

It is well known that cockroaches (Blatta AmerU
cana) destroy bugs, and when a house is infested
with one of these noxious insects, it is rare that the
others ill be found in the same place. But man
himself appears hitherto to be the animal that
destroys most fleas.

Many more disgusting insects than those just
mentioned are eaten in different parts of the world,
but as this work might fall into the hands of people
of delicate appetites, I shall pass them over, and
refer to Kirby and Spence's manual for a descrip-
tion of the Pterophagi, a people of Africa, who chase
the game upon their own private property.

104 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Aranea edulis, a large spider_, is relislied by tlie
natives of New Caledonia — this spider is about an
inch long ; it is roasted over the fii'e.

Humboldt has seen Indian children drag from "
the earth centipedes eighteen inches long (probably
Sjjirostreptus olivaceus or 8. indus ?), and more
than half an inch broad,- and devour them.

The same author also speaks of the Agautle of
the Mexicans, an aliment formed exclusively of the
eggs of certain species of the boat-fly, Notoneda.
These eggs also contribute to the formation of a
certain oohtic rock that is being deposited in the
great lakes of Mexico, whence M. Yirlet d^Aoust
and other geologists conclude that the oolitic
strata of the Jura, etc., must have had a similar
origin.

The Mexicans consume gi^eat quantities of these
eggs : they find them strewed by thousands upon
the reeds on the banks of the great fresh-water
lakes, Texcocco and Chalco. They shake them into
a cloth, and set them to diy, after which they are
ground hke flour, placed in sacks, and sold to the
inhabitants, who make with this flour a pecuhar kind
of cake called Jiaidte. The unground eggs are also
used to feed chickens, etc.*

* M. d'Aoust, on Lis return from Mexico, gave me some of
these eggs in 1858 ; tliey are very small, oval and white ; but I have
not yet submitted them to analysis.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS FOOD. 105

Thomas Gage spoke of this peculiar insect pro-
duct as early as 1625.

Tlie insects whose eggs are taken to produce this
Mexican flour are of three species. Two of these
belong to the genus Corixa of Geoffrey ; the first
was described in 1831, by Thomas Say, under the
name of Corixa mercenaria f the other is looked upon
as new, and has been called C. femorata. But on
the same reeds are observed the eggs of a third
insect, a new species of boat-fly, which M. Guerin
Menneville has termed Notoneda unifasciata ; this is
a larger insect.

We have heard of a beetle called Chlcenius sa^o-
naris (or Carahus sajponarius of Olivier), of which
soap is made in some parts of Africa. This fact is
easily accounted for by the great abundance of this
insect and the quantity of grease it contains.

Another beetle, Calandra granaria, a dark-brown
insect, with a spotted thorax, too well known by the
ravages it commits in the granaries of southern
Europe, contains both tannic and gallic acid : an ex-
tremely interesting fact, discovered by Mitonart and
Bonastre, and confirmed by the further researches of
Bonastre and Henry. Tannic acid and galhc acid can
be extracted from this beetle by means of ether,
alcohol, or water. The solution precipitates gelatine
and forms ink with salts of iron, etc., characteristic
properties of the substances in question.

106 UTILIZATION or MIXUTE LIFE.

Fire-flies {Elater), of wliicli I liave spoken at
length, in my work on Phosphorescence, are employed
in some countries as liglits^ as ornaments^ and to
kill mosquitoes.

A dipterous insect^ belonging to tlie genus
Stomowys, lias been spoken of by tlie Abbe Moigno,
formerly editor of tlie '^'' Cosmos/^ a Frencli periodical_,
as capable of producing truffles^ lience it has been
termed mouche trujigene, or tke truffle-producing fly.
But this subject^ wliicli was brought forward by M.
Ravelj is an illusion : the persons alluded to thinking
that the tru-§ie is the product of this fly as the gall-nut
is produced by the Cynips ! It required the entire
weight of M. Dufour^s evidence to refute these errors^
and to convince those concerned that the truffle is a
fungus like the mushroom^ springing from seeds, and
not the result of an insect^s bite upon the oak-roots.
That eminent naturalist showed also that several
insects lived upon truffles,, and were we to attribute
the formation and growth of this fungus to an insect,
there are some hundreds which we might look to
with equal reason.

I now turn to the common house-fly {Musca do-
mestica). Though this insect is not directly useful
to us, it contributes, indirectly, to our comforts
more than many of us suppose. It is true that Ugo
Foscolo used to call flies '^ one of his three miseries
of Hfe,^' yet the larvge of these insects nourish

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE^ OR AS FOOD. 107

themselves upon animal matters whicli if not dis-
posed of in this manner, would putrefy and evolve
noxious gases into the air we breathe ; thus the fly
doubtless tends to purify the air by preventing the
formation of miasma.

In this manner, Musca domestica, M. caimaria,
and M. Ccesar have their uses. Some flies (the
Blue-bottle, etc.), as I have already stated, give
birth to larvEC already hatched ; others [M. Ccesar,
etc.) lay millions of eggs, whence proceed, in a day
or two, innumerable devourers of dead flesh. One
single female of M. carnaria (Blue-bottle) will give
birth to 200,000 young already hatched ; and Redi
formerly ascertained that these grubs will devour so
much food in twenty-four hours as to increase, in
this short period, two hundred times in weight.

This will account, perhaps, for the assertion
made by Linnaeus, that three individuals of La-
treille's Musca vomit aria will devour a dead horse as
quickly as a lion could do it.

Many beetles devour dead flesh as eagerly as do
the larvae of flies. Stagnant waters are purified by
the larvae of the Ephemera flies, etc.

Before quitting the subject of flies, I will mention
some curious results obtained lately by M. Berard,
who has been studying the influence of light upon
animal growth. His observations are applicable to
the whole tribe of insects. It appears from them

108 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

tliat difFerently coloured liglit^ 01% in other terras^
the different rays of the solar spectrum_, have a very
different influence upon the development of young
animals^ on the hatching of eggs of insect s^ the
growth of larv£e_, etc.

Many philosophers^, from the time of Priestley
and Ingenhouz to the present day^ have studied the
influence of light on vegetables, but few have paid
attention to its action upon the animal organism.
Thus,, whilst Priestley, Ingenhouz, Sennebier, De
CandoUe, CaiTadori, Knight, Payer, Macaire, and
some others, made manifest the action of hght
upon vegetable respiration, absorption, exhalation,
etc. j in a word, upon the phenomena of nutri-
tion and development in plants ; Edwards and
Morren were almost the only observers who studied
animal life from the same point of view. Edwards
showed that without light the eggs of frogs cannot
be developed, and that the metamorphosis of tad-
poles into frogs cannot be effected in absolute
darkness.* Again, Moleschott has recently shown
that the respiration of frogs is most active in the
day hght, diminishing considerably during the night;
and Charles Morren observed Infusoria to evolve
oxygen whilst basking in the sunbeams which
play upon the stagnant waters they inhabit.

* Compare Higginbottam in "Proceedings of the Eojal So-
ciety," 1862 ; where some experiments of Edwards are refuted.

INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS FOOD. 109

Later still, M. Berard took a certain quantity of
eggs of the fly {Miisca Ccesar) ; he divided them
into separate groups, and placed them under difierent
coloured glass jars. In four or five days, the larvce
produced under the hlue and violet coloured jars
were much larger and more fully developed than
the others : those hatched under the green jar were
the smallest. The blue and violet jars were found,
therefore, to be most favourable to rapid and com-
plete development ; then came the red, yelloiu, and
white (transparent) jars ; and last of all the green.

The larvce developed in a given time under the
influence of violet light were more than three times
as large as those hatched and reared in green
light.*

The experiments are certainly very interesting
in a practical point of view ; for if it be true, as it
appears to be, that the larger a silkworm is the
more silk it will produce, it would be worth while to
repeat these experiments upon silkworms, and en-
deavour to raise a large breed under violet glass.

* The effects of the sun's rays, when filtered tlirough differently
coloured glass, upon the development of infusorial Hfe, has recently
occupied Mr. Samuelson. He fitted up a box containing three
compartments, covered by a pane of blue, red^ and yellow glass
respectively, and found that under the hlue and red glass infusoria
veere rapidly developed, whilst under the yellow hardly any signs of
life were visible. He then transferred a portion of the infusion
from the yellow to the blue compartment, when infusoria very soon
made their appearance.

110 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Notliing would be easier tlian to select a portion
of some silkworm establisliment for tlie experiment^
and to furnisli tMs section of tlie building with
violet-coloured windows. It would indeed be in-
teresting to see tliese rio/ef- coloured panes become
as necessary to the silk breeders as the yellow win-
dow is essential to tlie ^Dliotograplier. In the fonner
instance tke violet would serve to allow tlie cliemical
rays of liglit to pass^ while the other rays are
excluded. In the latter^ the yellow is used to cut
off* these chemical rays, and to let pass the re-
mainder.

n>iflm W§.

Crustacea.

firtifioial (Propagation praoticahle with Gritstacea as
-with Fish — ^he Common Lohstei — Laws of I^eg-ene-
ration — 'zThe Crawfish — Curious (X>isooveries relating-
to the Young of these Jlnimals — (Phyllosoma — Zo'ea
— -J\detamorphosis among Crustacea — (Praniza and
jinoeus — Larvae of Lobsters — ^he Colouring JVLatter
of Lobsters, Cravjfish, etc. — Composition of a Lobster-
shell — Shrimps — Crangon vulgaris — 'C. boreas, Ba-
binea septemoarinata, and other Shrimps — (Pravjns
— (Palemon caroinus and (P. jamaicensis — Other
Species of (Prawns — ^opyrius crangorum — ^he Iso-
poda — ^le Family of Crabs — Cancer pagurus — C.
moenas — (Pinnotheres — (Pagurus — " (2)iogenes" —
Land-crabs — ^helphusa fiuviatilis — Crabs of the
genus G-ecaroinus — ^heir wonderful Emigrations
— ^irgus latro, or the I^obber Crab — Quantity of fat
it produces — Concluding remarks on this Family.

CRUSTACEA.

NOW leave tlie useful Insect world to speak
of some Crustacea^ a class of animals ex-
)tremely remarkable^ both, in a scientific point
of view and in a practical sense. Lob-
sters_, crawfisli^ crabs, slirimpSj etc., will here
demand our attention, and will furnisli us many
occasions of relating curious or novel details con-
cerning this section of the animal world.

It has lately been ascertained that artificial
fecundation and breeding can be effected with, some
of these Crustacea, as easily as with. fish. Messrs.
Coste, Haxo, Chabot, etc., have, of late years,
devoted much attention to this subject.

A capital of about five shillings, we are told, is
sufficient to start with, and, if the business is well
managed, the investment will not be regretted.
The eggs of a female lobster are taken and placed
in a water-trough, and the seed of the male strewed
over them ; they are then carefully attended to, and
nourished upon such substances as observation or

I

114 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

experiment prescribes. That is the fundamental
principle of rearing Crustacea (Fig. 10).

By breeding crawfish in this manner^ some in-
teresting facts relating to the earher phases of their
life have been brought to light.

The common lobster {Astacus marinus) is abun-
dant on the rocky coasts of England, and may be
seen in clear water, at no great depth, at the time it
deposits its eggs, that is, about the middle of
summer. It produces from 15,000 to 20,000 eggs.
Dr. Baster actually counted 12,444 eggs under the
tail of one female lobster, exclusively of those that
still remained unprotruded in the body.

The craw-fish {Astacus fiuviatilis) produces up-
wards of 100,000 eggs, a fact which has doubtless
contributed to the success of the undertakings
alluded to above, and which seems calculated
to facilitate the artificial multiplication of this
species.

Large lobsters are very voracious animals, de-
vouring sometimes their own young, and fighting
fearful battles among themselves. When in these
skirmishes they lose a claw it soon grows again,
but never so large as the lost one it replaces. This
power of reproduction of lost parts is extremely
developed in lower animals, where the principle of
vitality is not concentrated so much in central
©rgans ; it is observed to a wonderful extent in

'I'Bl^^b-i—LJ ,;i ^11!' Hili united —

CRUSTACEA. 117

polyps^ sea-anemoneSj worms^ snails^ lobsters,
lizards, and even in some fisli.

Lobsters, in common with, most crustaceans,
possess the faculty of reproduction to a great
extent : if a claw be torn off it is renewed, and if
injured tlie animal will sometimes tkrow it off of Lis
own accord,* Any violent sliock to tlie nervous
system will likewise cause this. Hence, if a lobster
be thrown into boiling water or spirits of wine, etc.,
it will frequently throw off its large claws. Pennant
observed tliat lobsters are apt to cast off their claws
during a loud clap of thunder, or by the noise of a
large cannon. When a man-of-war meets with a
lobster-boat, a jocular threat is used, that if the
master does not sell them good fish, the ship^s crew
will salute him !

M. Jobart de Lamballe showed, not long since,
that the regenerative force of which we speak de-
creases as the animal organism becomes more com-
plicated. Hence, if you cut a polyp into two, three,
four — one hundred pieces, each fragment will be-
come a new animal. But if we go a step higher —
from polyps to worms, for instance — it will be
found that, on dividing a worm in two longitudi-
nally, the animal will not survive the operation;
but if the worm be divided transversely , each

* See Reaumur, " Sur la Reproduction des Jambes de I'Ecre-
visse." (Mem. de I'Aead. des Sciences, Paris, 1712.)

118 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

section becomes a new worm. Ascending still
higher — to lobsters and fish, for instance — the ex-
terior parts of the body can alone be thus regene-
rated; and Spallanzani has shown that when the
tails of Hzards — a class still higher — are cut off_, the
new tail does not always possess the whole number
of vertebral bones ; in other terms_, the regeneration
is incomplete. In animals with warm blood, this
regenerative faculty is greatly diminished, but still
exists, even in man himself. But the same force
which in man forms the scar of a wound, or heals
the stump after amputation, will with lizards re-
produce a tail, with lobsters a claw, with polyps
the y)lwle body !

The mouth of the lobster, hke that of insects,
^^ opens,^^ says Buffon, " the long way of the body,
not crossways, as in man. It is furnished with two
teeth; but as these are not sufficient, it has three
more in its stomach.-" The latter were formerly
used in medicine under the pompous names of
oculi cancorum, the yeux cVecrevisses of the French,
instead of carbonate of magnesia. The lobster
sheds its shell, in all probability once in a year,
and then retires under a rock or into a hole until
the new skin is again covered with a solid crust.
Whilst thus deprived of its hard covering, the
lobster becomes an easy prey to most of the in-
habitants of the deep, and even to his own species;

CEUSTACEA. 119

SO that incredible numbers perish annually, from
this circumstance alone, upon our coasts. Under
water these curious creatures run swiftly upon
their feet, and when alarmed spring from twenty to
thirty feet as rapidly as a bird can fly. They are
commonly taken in the night by means of a wicker-
basket or net, into which a bait, consisting of
pieces of flesh or the entrails of fish, has been
thrown. The places in which these nets or baskets
are lowered into the water are marked by floating
buoys.

Very young lobsters seek refuge in the clefts of
rocks, and in holes or crevices at the bottom of the
sea. There, without seeming to take any food,
they grow large in a few weeks^ time, being
nourished upon the various matters which the water
washes into their retreats. When their shell is
completely formed, they become bolder, leave the
rocks, and creep along the bottom in search of
prey. They Hve chiefly upon the spawn of fish, the
smaller Crustacea, marine worms, etc. All these
facts must be borne in mind by those who under-
take to rear them artificially.

The crawfish {Astcccus fluviatilis) is found in the
fresh waters of Europe and Northern Asia. There
is a species which inhabits the Mediterranean, and
attains more than a yard in length. This is, per-
haps, the creature that Aristotle calls a(TTaKo<i in his

120 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Histoiy of Animals. The common crawfish, thrives
best in rivers_, in holes in the banks, and nnder
stones, where it awaits the small mollusca, fishes,
larvae of insects, and other animal matters, upon
which it feeds. The curious old writer, Jerome
Cardan, tells us that this animal is a sign of the
goodness of the water in which it is boiled, for the
best water turns it very red, an absurd notion,
like many emanating from this and other similar
writers on medicine and natural history in the dark
ages of superstition.

Desmarest assures us that a crawfish will hve
for twenty years or more, and that it becomes
larger in proportion to its age. Towards the end
of spring it casts off the pieces which form its shell,
but in the course of a few days becomes again
covered with a solid coating as hard as the previous
one, and one-fifth larger. Sometimes this moulting
takes place at the end of summer ; it appears to
depend entirely upon the locality the animal lives
in, as it is seen to occur at difierent seasons in
different localities. Its eggs are carried for some
time under the abdomen, like those of the lobster.
The crawfish is taken in various manners, either by
nets or bundles of thorns, in which flesh in a state
of decomposition is placed, or by inserting the hand
into the holes it inhabits.

By rearing these Crustacea artificially, M. Gerbe,

CRUSTACEA. 121

who was aiding M. Coste in his experiments, dis-
covered that the curious little beings known as
Phyllosoma are nothing more than the larvce or
young forms of the crawfish. The egg of the craw-
fish, on quitting the mother, becomes a Phyllosoma ,
which is afterwards changed into a perfect craw-
fish. The metamorphosis is as complete as with
insects.

Professor Thomson, of Belfast, discovered for-
merly that certain crabs gave birth to curious-
looking beings, to which a French naturalist had
previously given the name of Zoea. These Zoea,
which were looked upon as distinct animals, turn
out to be the larvce or young of other well-known
Crustacea. Similar facts have recently been made
known by Mr. Couch, of Penzance.* But since the
pubHcation of Professor Thomson^s observations,
we have, in the order of Eidomostraca, examples of
generation equal to that we mentioned in speaking
of the Aphides in a preceding chapter. M. Hasse
has also shown that the cm^ious creatm'es known as
Praniza are only larvce of Anceus, so that metamor-
phosis is doubtless as active in Crustaceans as in
Insects.

It is now an estabhshed fact, therefore, that
the eggs of crawfish bring forth larvce which do not
resemble the parent, but were formerly classed as
* Brit. Ass. Eeport, 1857.

122 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

distinct animals^ under the name of Phyllosoma,
and tliat crabs' eggs produce larvce known formerly
as Zoea, Moreover, it has lately been shown by
Valenciennes that lobsters produce larvce also, and
that these were also taken for Zoea.

In the year 1853, M. Etienne Leguilloux sent to
the Jardin des Plantes of Paris some young lobsters
barely hatched from the eggs. It was soon dis-
covered that these young creatures were the iden-
tical Crustaceans formerly described by M. Bosc as
Zoea. After a space of eight days, these larvce
change their skins or moult for the first time ; at
two months old their change of form becomes very
evident ; at the age of three months the large claws
■which characterize the lobster begin to show them-
selves, and at six months old the transformation is
complete. These creatures have then the form of
the adult lobster. In this state they are often
caught on the shore, and sent to the French markets
under the name of Quatre-quarts. They fetch a
much higher price, in proportion to their size, than
the full-grown lobster.

The black or dark-blue colour of lobsters and
their allies is very remarkable, in a chemical point
of view, as it becomes red in hot water. Macaire
and Lassaigne have examined its nature, but little
is yet known of it. In its natural state it is a very
dark bluish-green fatty matter, which becomes red

CRUSTACEA. 123

when exposed to a heat of 70' (ceutigi-ade), and in
this state resembles the red colouring matter ex-
tracted by Goebel from the legs and beaks of
certain geese and pigeons. It can be extracted
from the lobster^s shell by means of alcohol, in
which it is soluble ; but during the operation the
colour turns red. Sulphuric and nitric acids turn
the red alcohoUc solution to a permanent green,
which the alkalis do not again change to red.
This is one of its most remarkable properties. A
permanent organic green is such a desideratum at
this moment in the tinctorial world, that the dis-
covery of a new dye of that description would be
worth thousands of pounds !

Moreover, the red colour of the lobster can be
modified by chemical means; for instance, with
oxide of lead it produces a violet combination, and
the dark-coloured shell becomes red when it is put
in contact with acids, alkahs, certain salts, etc. It
also turns red by long exposure to the air, by
putrefaction, etc. ; but it does not change colour in
carbonic acid gas, or in hydrogen. Chlorine
bleaches it completely.

The hard envelope of Crustacea is formed prin-
cipally of carbonate of lime, a little phosphate of
lime, and a few other salts in small proportions.
All these are intimately mixed with a certain
amount of animal tissue.

124 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Slirimps resemble lobsters and crawfisli to a
certain extent ; tliey have been subdivided by
naturalists into many distinct groups.

The Crangon vulgaris is our common shrimp^
wliicli_, according to Pennant^ is the most delicious
of all Crustaceans.

In the Ai'ctic Seas we have two other descrip-
tions of shrimps, namely, C. horeas and Sahinia
sejptemcarinata, which are sometimes plentiful on
the west coast of Davis^s Straits.

Other species of shrimps are found on the coasts
of Mexico, in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean,
etc., so that this tribe of Crustacea is pretty widely
dijffused.

Besides shrimps, we have also numerous species
of prawns, shrimp-hke Crustaceans belonging to the
genus Palemon, weU-known to the epicure. Some
varieties found in hot climates attain one foot in
length : such are Palemon carcinus of the Indian
Seas and the Ganges, and P. jamaicensis of the
Antilles.

Prawns generally inhabit sandy bottoms near
the coasts, but are often found at the mouths of
rivers, even far up the stream, at some distance
from the sea.

The common prawn of our markets is P. serratus.
It is taken on the English, Flemish, and French
coasts, where it is accompanied by two other species.

CRUSTACEA. 12§

P. squilla and P. varians, whicli both, differ a little
from tlie former.

There is a kind of shrimp belonging probably
also to the genus Palemon, and whicli is about seven
inches long; it is very common at the mouths of
rivers in Florida. Leba has called it the American
craivfishy but it is probably the Palemon setiferus
(Olivier) of naturalists.

Shrimps and their allies are the principal sea-
vengers of the ocean; they clear away the decom-
posing animal matter which floats in the sea. They
are highly prized as a delicious and nutritive article
of food^ and might be easily reared artificially or
cultivated, as crawfish and lobsters have been in
France,, were it deemed profitable or necessary.

Curious little parasitical Crustacea belonging to
Latreille^s genus Bopyriis are found living upon
prawns. Those who are in the habit of eating
prawns will probably have sometimes observed a
tumour under the carapace on one side of the
animal. On hfting this part of the shell, the para-
site will be discovered immediately under it, upon
the branchiaB or gills. These httle beings belong
to the family of Isopocla. The species which five on
our common prawn is Bopyrus crangorum. The
former does not appear to suffer at all from the
invasion of this parasite, which will one day, doubt-
less^ turn out to be the larvce of some other

1^26 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Crustacean — perhaps of tlie prawn itself. Be that
as it may, the section of Isojpoda presents a wide
field of experimental research, from the wood-louse,
Oniscus murarius, which used to enter into the
composition of certain quack pills, upwards.

Let us now turn to the family of crabs. Our
large edible crab {Cancer ;pagur us, L.) is taken upon
the roclxij coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, and
Western Europe; it is rarely met with on sandy
coasts, such as the littoral of Flanders. Pennant
says that it casts its shell every year between
Christmas and Easter ; but Lyell, in his '' Principles
of Geology,^^ says that a crab taken in April, 1832,
on the English coast, had its shell covered with
oysters of six years' growth ; hence it was concluded
that this crab could not have moulted for six
years.

Like other Crustacea, it is probable that the
crab moults once a year in its younger days, but
it has not been ascertained at what period this
moulting ceases.

As to artificial breeding and rearing, I shall refer
to what has been said of lobsters and crawfish.

Cancer moenas, L., is a much smaller and less-
esteemed edible crab, common on our coasts. A
still smaller species is the pea crab {Pinnotheres
pisum), which is about the size of a spider; it is
found sometimes, in the month of November, living

CRUSTACEA. 127

in the interior of tlie shells of mussels. Other small
species inhabit the shells of other living mollusca.

The Hermit Crab [Parjurus Bernardus), an indi-
genous representant of a numerous and interesting
group^ is not sought for as food in this country.
Being deprived of a shell of its own, it inhabits the
shells of large univalve mollusca {Buccinum undu-
latum). There are many species of Pagurus that
Hve in holes at a considerable distance from the
sea, which they only visit now and then, as we go
to our watering-places. Thus the hermit crabs of
the far west come to the sea once a year, to lay
their eggs and change their shells. Some of them
are eaten by the native Americans, but they some-
times disagree with strangers. Catesby says that
a species known as "Diogenes,'^ found at the
Antilles in the shell of a large periwinkle {Turbo
'pica), is roasted in this shell by the natives, and
esteemed dehcate eating. Though the whole body
of the Pagurus is soft and tender, its anterior claws,
which project from the shell it inhabits, are so
strong, that an individual of two or three inches
long pinches smartly. When some of these species
are taken they emit a feeble cry,* and endeavom^ to
seize the enemy with their strong claws.

* The production of sounds by aquatic animals is rare. On
sounds produced by fish, see Dufosse in " Comptes Kendus," Paris
Academy, 1858, and again in the same publication for 1861.

128 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

But some of tlie most useful and most remark-
able of crabs are undoubtedly tlie land crabs, wMch
belong to tbe genera Thelpliusa and Gecarcinus.
Of the former some live far away from tbe ocean^
under damp stones in tbe woods ; others^ such, as
T. fluviatilis (Fig. 11)^ wbicb would be taken by a

Fig, 11.— Thelphusa fluviatilis (European land-crab) .

casual observer for a small common crab^ burrows
in tbe eartb on tbe banks of rivers. Tliis animal is
about two and a half incbes long, and of a yellowisb
colour ; it was known to Hippocrates and Aristotle,
and is represented on certain ancient medals. The
Greek monks eat it raw, and the Italians feed upon
it during Easter. It is not uncommon in the south
of Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Syria.

The crabs of the genus Gecarcinus resemble that
just mentioned. They abound in the hilly districts
of the Antilles, where they are known to the French
as Toulourous, They are hkewise found in the

CEUSTACEA. 129

tropical parts of America, Asia, and Africa. During
the day they hide themselves in damp holes or
cavities of trees and rocks, or lie motionless under
damp blocks of stone. Although, like fish and
other Crustacea, etc., they are furnished with
branchiae or gills for breathing, they cannot live in
the water. At certain periods of the year, generally
about the month of May, they unite in troops, and
make long excursions over the country towards the
sea, where they repair to lay their eggs. Thus
once a year they march down to the sea -beach,
some thousands at a time, laying waste every-
thing they meet on the road. They proceed in so
direct a hne, that no geometrician could send them
to their destination by a shorter course. They
travel by night and repose by day, unless it happen
to rain, when they profit by the circumstance, and
proceed by day also.

On arriving at the sea- shore, their eggs are
deposited in the water, and the mother crabs,
leaving accident to bring them to maturity, wander
back to their accustomed haunts. About two-thirds
of these eggs are immediately devoured by shoals of
fish, brought, as it were by instinct, at this particular
time to the shore. The young Gecarcini that escape
are hatched ujDon the sand, and soon after millions
of these little creatures are seen quitting the shore,
and slowly travelling up to the woody mountains.

130 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

These crabs are sometimes called Violet crabs.
They live upon leaves, rotten wood_, fruits, etc.
They are considered delicious food in the countries
where they abound, especially during the time of
moulting. In the Carribbee Islands they form a
very important element of nutrition.

The elegant wi^iter, Bernardin de St. Pierre, in
his ''*' Etudes de la Nature,^^ speaks of these land
crabs thus : —

^^11 y a des animaux qui ne voyagent que la
nuit. Des millions de crabes descendent aux Antilles
des montagnes a la clarte de la lune en faisant
sonner leurs tenailles,* et offrent aux Caraibes, sur
les greves steriles de leurs iles, leurs ecailles rem-
plies de moelles exquises."

The JBirgus latro, or robber crab (Fig. 12), is
another terrestrial species, and is sought for as
food in certain coantries. It is remarkable for the
manner in which it climbs trees, to feed upon their
fruit. The crabs of this species bore a hole at the
feet of trees in Amboyna and other islands in the
South Pacific Ocean. The naturalist Herbst appears

* BufPon says, that " to iutimidate their enemies, thej often
make a clattering noise with their claws during their march."
Their nippers are very strong, and a crab of this species loses its
claw rather than let go its grasp. One of them may be often seen
making off, having left its claw still holding fast upon the enemy.
The faithful claw seems to perform its duty to the utmost for
upwards of a minute after its owner has retired.

Fig. 12.— Birgus latro (Eobber Crab— individual capable of producing
one quart of oil).

CRUSTACEA. 133

to be tlie first who studied this remarkable crab,
and to Ms accounts we are referred by Rumphius,
Seba, Linnaeus, and Cuvier. Tbe Indians say tbat
tbese robber crabs can live upon cocoa-nut s, and
that they make tlieir excui'sions during tlie night.
Quoy and Gaimard have fed them for months upon
cocoa-nuts alone. They climb principally a species
of palm-tree [Pandanus odoratissimus) , and devour
the small palm-nut that grows thereon. They are
a favourite article of food among the natives.
Darwin observed the Birgus latro in the Keehng or
Cocos Islands, situated in the Indian Ocean, about
six hundred miles from the coast of Sumatra. He
assures us this crab grows to a monstrous size.
M. Liesk tells us he has seen the Birgus latro open
cocoa-nuts, which they perform, according to Dar-
win, by tearing off the exterior fibres or husk, and
then striking them repeatedly upon the ^' eye-
holes,'^ with their heavy claws.

The young are hatched and five for some time
on the shore. The adult Birgus proceed at times to
the sea to moisten their gills ; the journey is made at
night. They make their beds of cocoa-nut husks.
These crabs are not only very good to eat, but
under the abdomen of the larger ones is lodged a
mass of fat, which, when melted, yields as much as
a quart of oil ; so that a native having such an
animal at his disposal can make his supper of the

134 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

crab^ and light Mmself to bed with the oil. It
would be interesting to examine this oil_, and ascer-
tain the quantity that could be produced annually
by a given number of these crabs.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

The Crustacea of which we have spoken, and
whose study we now rehnquish_, are all oviparous,
and have separate sexes ; therefore artificial breeding
and cultivation of any of their species would pro-
bablv be attended with success. The artificial
breeding of crawfish and lobsters appears to have
begun in France ; M. Coste of Paris, and M. Gaillon
of Concarneau, have lately concentrated their atten-
tion upon the artificial propagation of these and
some other useful animals upon the French coasts.

Mollusca.

CEPHALOPODA.

India, cund, Ohincu Ink — Fossil ink-bags — Octopus viol-
g-aris — The colour " Sepia" — Sepia officinalis, or
" Cuttlefish" — Quttle-hone — Loligo vulgaris — Edible
Cuttlefish — Chemical nature of their Colour — flau-
tilus — -Jlrgonauta — Carinaria.

GASTEROPODA.

'The Tyrian purple — Curious properties of the colouring
matter of Sea-snails — -J/Lurex brandaris — (Purpura
lapillus — Helix fragilis — Yandina fragilis — (Pur^
pura patella — -Jdurex t-runcatus — Experiments with
American Sea-snails — Colour furnished by WTielhs —
^ucciniom — Influence of light upon the production of
their coloui (Process used by the ancients to dye pur-
ple— Uric acid in G-asteropoda — -Jdurexide — Snails
that are reared for food, etc. — Helix pomatia — Snail
gard,ens — H. aspersa — H. horticola — firion rufus
— Chemical Jlnaly sis of Snails — Limacine — Helioine
— Uric acid in H. pomatia — Turbo littoreus, or Cperi-
winkle — Haliotis — Snails used as money — Gyprcea
moneta — Other species of Cyprcea — " Love-shells" —

136 UTILIZATION or MIXUTE LIFE.

Qonus — Oliva — Ovulo^ — Strombus g-ig-as — Cassis —
Q^irbinella — Jdvjvex — ^Vjooinum — Gurious experi-
mente with Bnails — Blug-s — Linnax maximus — L.
ag-restis.

BIYALYE-MOLLUSCA.

JAytiViis edulis, or common, J^ussel — Its oulture, etc. —
Hzortful at Gertain seasons — iJVL. ohoros — -J\^. JVLaget-
lanious — -J\/[. aroa—Jd. lithcphagus — Ostrea edulis,
or common Oyster — (X)etails concerning its artificial
b'reeding and, propagation, etc. — -jpicclimatisation of
Jdollibsca — Fishing on the (Plessix bed — Spondi/lus —
CardAum edule, or Cockle — Solen — (Pecten maximus
— 'd^ellina — ■ ^rid,aona gigas — Chama — Gameos —
Stone Gameos and^ Shell Cameos — Ghinese Cameos —
(Pearl-oysters — -Jlvioula margaritifera — Jl. frimbriata
— jl. sterna — (Pearl Fishery — Its extent — (Pearls of
j\dytillus edulis — Jlnodontss — TJnio pictorum — Unio
margaritiferus — Gulture of the Fresh-water (Pearl-
J/Iussel — -Jirtifioial modes of causing it to produce
pearls — Pinna — 'dheir silky byssus and its uses —
Their pearls — Other uuses of shells — 9^unicata and,
^ryozoa.

u^

MOLLUSCA

'N tlie first order of Mollusca^ that of Cej^halo-
jpoda, we meet with many animals both
^'^ curious and useful. These singular creatures^
among which the common Cuttlefish may be
taken as an example, derive their name_, CepJia-
lojwda, from the fact that their feet seem to be
placed upon their head. Their body is fleshy and
soft, generally somewhat cylindrical; their head is
distinct from the body, and is furnished with par-
ticularly large eyes ; their mouth, placed at the top
of the head, has two strong horny mandibles some-
thing hke the beak of a parrot, and is surrounded
by long fleshy tentacles or arms (often termed /^e^),
which are almost always provided with numerous
suckers, by means of which the animal grasps
tightly anything that comes in its way. Indeed, so
firmly can the Cejjhalojjoda adhere to foreign bodies
by means of these suckers, that it is easier to tear
away the arm or tentacle than to release it from its
grasp ; but the animal, on the contrary, can release

138 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

itself instarLtaneously^ as numerous observations
show. Tliey walk upon the bottom of tlie ocean,
bead downwards_, making use of tbeir tentacles
as feet.

The different varieties of Cuttlefisb are provided
witb a very peculiar organ, generally known as
'' tJie inJ:-ljacf' — a purse-like sac filled witb a dark-
coloured liquid, wliicb is secreted by a special
gland. Wlien the animal is irritated or frightened,
it empties a quantity of this fluid into the water to
conceal itself.

This coloured liquid was used by the ancients as
a kind of ink, and it has been affirmed that it
formed the basis of several paints, among others of
China or India iiik ; but the latter often owes its
colour to the charcoal of burnt cork, or to common
lampblack mixed with glue.

The dramngs with which Cuvier illustrated his
studies of the Sepia, Loligo, and other Cephalopoda,
were executed with the ink furnished by the animals
he was dissecting.

Miss Mary Anning, of Lyme Regis, formerly
discovered that the ink-bags of certain fossil Cepha-
lopoda in the Lias beds has been preserved un-
altered to the present day, though it must have
lain buried in the strata for myriads of centuries !
^' In the lower Jura formations'^ (the lias of Lyme
Regis), says Humboldt, ^^the ink-bag of the Sepia

MOLLUSCA. 139

has been so wonderfully preserved tliat tlie material
wiiicli, myriads of years ago, might have served the
animal to conceal itself from his enemies, still yields
the colour with which its image may be drawn."

After this, my discovery that the fossil Teredo of
the Brussels Tertiary formations have a powerful
odour of the sea, when freshly taken from the earth
and broken, is less astonishing.*

Certain Cephalopoda swim or dart about more or
less swiftly in the water, and have even been seen
to leap out of the sea like the flying-fish. This is
observed with certain species of Loligo, or ^' Pen-
fish.''

Octopus vidgaris {Sepia octopodia, L.) has eight
tentacles, furnished with double rows of suckers.
It is common enough in the European seas, and in
summer destroys great numbers of lobsters on the
coasts of France. It is from this species that the
brown colour called " Sepia" was formerly extracted.
It is known in Enghsh as the Eight-armed Cuttle or
Poidpj and when it attaches itself to the arms or
legs of a bather is very difficult to get rid of,
though they are generally timid creatures, and only
fight as a last resource.

The common Cuttlefish [Sepia officinalis), whose
shell or bone is often thrown upon our coasts by
the waves, is probably well known to our readers.
* " Comptes Rendu3 of the Acad, des Sc," Paris, July, 1856.

140 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Its bone^ wliicli supports tlie soft parts of tlie
animals body^ is emjDloyed to polish ivory and bone
objects^ to prepare toot]i-powder_, and for a liost of
minor uses. It is known in tlie sliops as '^ Cuttle-
bone/^ or when powdered as '^ Pounce." It is fre-
quently hung in the cages of Canary birds_, who
clean and sharpen their beaks by pecking at it.
This bone exists in other animals of this group : in
Loligo vulgaris (the common Calamary) it is almost
transparent_, and sloped somewhat hke a pen, whence
this and other alhed species are sometimes called
Pen-fish. Loligo vulgaris is common on our coasts.
The colom' of its almost transparent greenish body
changes at intervals^ and adapts itself to that of the
water it inhabits. In all the so-called naked*
Ceplialopoda the colour of the skin is highly
changeable, showing spots which brighten and fade
with a rapidity superior to the cuticular changes of
the chameleon ; a faculty which they owe to a very
remarkable cuticular tissue, which has often engaged
the attention of anatomists.

Hardly any sea is without some species of naked
Cephaloj)ocla ; their food consists principally of fish
and Crustacea, but they are very voracious, and will
devour almost any kind of animal matter. Their
flesh, especially that of the tentacles, is edible, and

* To distinguish tliem from those possessed of shells {XauiiliiSy
etc.)

MOLLUSCA. 141

is considered nutritious. They are not eaten in
Britain^, but in otlier countries tlie Cuttlefisli is
sometimes souglit as food. In the Neapolitan
market-places, for instance, the arms or tentacles,
cut into portions and prepared for cooking, are to
be frequently seen. They resemble the lobster in
flavour. According to Aristotle, they were esteemed
as food by the ancients, and the old writer Athenseus
informs us how to prepare a cuttlefish sausage.

Prout, Bixio, and Kemp have examined the
colouring matter produced by these animals, and
contained in their ink-bag. It appears from their
researches to be very similar in nature to the black
pigment of the eye of other animals. It is insoluble in
water, but remains for a very long time suspended in
the liquid, as we observe with finely pulverized chalk.
This principle is known to chemists as Mela'ine.

About 12 cwt. of cuttle-hone (of Sejoia offici-
nalis, L.) arrives yearly in Liverpool ; it is mostly
sold to druggists, who use it chiefly for making
tooth-powder. The dried contents of the ink-bag
is imported from China to Liverpool, at the rate of
a few pounds annually. It either arrives in cakes
or is made into cakes, called Sepia and Indian inl\
Imitation Indian ink is made of cork charcoal,
soot, etc., as I have already observed.

Besides these naked Ceplialopoclaj there are some
which possess yqyj splendid shells : such are the

142 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

Nautilus and tlie beautiful Argonaut a, or Paper
Nautilus^ wMch. is not unfrequently seen, on calm
days_, g'liding softly on the sui'face of tlie blue Medi-
terranean_, and of whicli Pluiy, Buffon, and others
have given such poetical descriptions. Their shells
are sought for as ornaments. Other species, such
as certain rare Carlnaria, produce magnificent shells,
which sell at a high j^rice for drawing-room orna-
ments.

The Nautilus pomjpilius, according to some natu-
rahsts, is seen floating on the waters of the Atlantic
between the tropics; the Argonauta Argo on the
Mediterranean; the Garinajria frag His also inhabits
the Atlantic; whilst C vitrea, a rare species, is
chiefly found in the South Seas.

In the second order of MoUusca, named Gaste-
rojjoda, we have some very interesting-, useful, and
ornamental animals. To save space and time required
for minute descrijDtion, the common Garden Snail
or Slug may be taken as an example of the order
of GasterojJoda. The species of this large tribe are
very numerous, and perhaps as beautiful or as
useful as numerous.

I shall mention, in the first place, the Gastero-
poda from which the ancients extracted the colouring
matter known as Tyrian jpiirple. This magnificent

MOLLUSCA. 143

colour, only worn by kings and nobles_, was tlie
produce of a sea-snail.

Many ratter marvellous tales liave been related
concerning tlie origin of tliis purple dye of tlie
ancients. At tlie present time, all that appears to
be known with certainty is, that its discovery was
made at Tyre, and tliat it was produced by certain
sea-snails. Some ^vinters assure us tbat the species
which furnished the colour were Murex brandans
and Fiirpura lapillus (Fig. 13) ; of which the first

Fig. 13.— Purpura lapillus (Purple-produciug WLelk).

produced the finest and most expensive colour, and
the latter, which is as common on the Eno-lish
coasts as upon those of the Mediterranean, is a kind
of vjlielk.

The hquid which can be squeezed out of this
whelk is colourless, or nearly so ; but by the action
of light it becomes first of a citron tint, then jpale
green, emerald green, azure, red, and finally, in about
forty- eight hours, a magnificent purple. To enable
the colouring matter to take successively all these
tints, it must not be allowed to dry.

144 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

At tlie meeting of tlie Jeinisalem Literary
Society, held November 14, 1857, Dr. Eoth, of
Municli, gave tlie results of his researches upon the
ancient Tjadan j^^ii'P^^ ^J^- -^e shows that in the
works of Phny and Aristotle the names of Biiccinum,
Murex, and ConchyJia are so vaguely used, that
nothing on this subject can be learned from them.
Hasselquist, according to Dr. Eoth, supposes the
true shells to be Helix fragilis, L., and Yandina
fragilis, the mollusca of which are purple, and stain
the fingers ; but their dye is not lasting. When
Dr. Roth first came to Palestine, he found at Jaffa
the Purpura ijatula, the snail of which is sought by
the native Christians as food during the fast-days.
On puncturing this animal there issued a greenish
hquid, which, when exposed to the sunshine, changed
to purple. This purple increased in brilliancy when
it was washed. Comparing this with the accounts
left by the ancients. Dr. Roth thinks the colour he
produced is evidently their blue-purple, for they had
a blue-purjDle, a deep-purple, and a red-purple.

Between Soor and Saida, according to the same
author, the Murex truncatus, or trunculus, is found
in abundance, and its colour is more brilliant than
that of the Purjyura. One of these Murex is suffi-
cient to dye a square inch of cloth, which would
require five individuals of Furjnira jycttula. Wool
takes the dye better than any other substance ; silk

MOLLUSCA. 145

takes it with, difficulty. Dr. Rotk appears to liave
assured himself that the liquid extracted from these
snails becomes coloured under the influence of
light, and that the air has nothing to do with it ;
but I fancy both agents are active. The eggs of
these sea- snails are laid in June, and hang upon the
rocks in large balls. They have also a purple
colour.

Researches similar to those just mentioned have
been made before. Lono^ ao-o, Thomas Gao-e re-
ported that certain shells found near Nicoya, a little
Spanish town of South America, possessed all the
dyeing properties noticed by Pliny and other old
writers. They were employed for dyeing cotton on
the coast of Guayaquil and Guatemala. In 1686,
Cole made similar observations on the English
coasts. Plumier formerly discovered a colouring
snail in the Antilles, and Reaumur made repeated
experiments on common whelks {Buccinum), which
he picked up on the coast of Poitou. Duhamel re-
peated these experiments on Purpura, found in
abundance on the shores of Provence. He and
Reaumur first noticed the extraordinary influence of
light in the production of the colour. Bixio studied,
though incompletely, the colour furnished by Murex
hrandaris, and found it to be identical in |)roperties
with that furnished by other gasteropod mollusca.

The art of dyeing purple was continued in the

L

146 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

East as late as the eleventli century, at wliicli epocli
it still existed in all its vigour. Tlie process em-
ployed and tlie manner of taking tlie snails has
been described by an eye-witness_, Eudocia Macrem-
bolitissa, daughter of the Emperor Constantino VIII.
Her book is to be found in the first volume of the
collection pubhshed in 1781 by M. d^Ansc de Yil-
loison, entitled "Anecdota Grseca,^^ etc. The pro-
cess was as follows : — A quantity of Gasteropoda
were pounded in a trough, and to the mass thus
produced was added either a quantity of urine in a
state of putrefaction, or some water in which a
certain number of the pounded snails had under-
gone putrefaction. The cloth was soaked in the
liquor produced by this mixture, and acquired a
purple colour on being exposed to the air ; some-
times it was warmed a little, to accelerate the
production of the colour.

Jacobson and De Blainville found uric acid in
these snails, as a product of the so-called sacciis
calcareous, an organ which secretes uric acid in
snails and other Mollusca.* Now, Dr. Prout formerly
transformed uric acid into a purple colour of great
beauty, which he termed jyvrpiirate of ammonia, and
which Liebig has since called Miirexide. It appears

* This organ is supposed to be the first vestige of a kidney.
See Jacobson in '• Journ. de Phys.," xci. 318; and compare Cams,
" Comp. Anat.," torn. i. p. 377, fr. ed.

MOLLUSCA. 147

evident at the present day that tliis substance
derived from uric acid is identical with the purple
of the ancients. Dr. Sacc has used it as a dye very
recently_, and obtained tolerably good results ; and
Dr. Schlumberger has endeavoured to prove that the
varied hues of parrots, humming-birds_, pheasants,
etc., are owed in great measure to murexide. At the
present time, large quantities of murexide have been
obtained from guano, which contains much uric acid,
for the purpose of dyeing. It is a splendid sub-
stance when pure, presenting in one direction beau-
tiful metallic green reflections, and in others brown
and purple tints.

But to this we must add, that, up to the present
time, no rigorous chemical experiments have been
made with the purple colouring matter extracted
from sea snails, and the curious manner in which it
is developed under the influence of the sun^s rays
seems to indicate that it is really distinct from
murexide, however much the latter may re-
semble it.

Many snails are sought for and bred as articles
of food or medicine. Among the terrestrial species,
Kelix poinatia, or the Apple snail (Fig. 14), known
in France as the Grand escargot, is cultivated to a
considerable extent, and is eaten, principally during
Lent, in France, Belgium, Germany, and other
parts of Europe. Indeed, the taste for this animal

148 TTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

lias SO mucli increased lately^ tliat tlie oj^ster trade
suffered last year in France^ in consequence of the
number of these snails brought into the markets.

These land snails shut themselves up for the
winter in a curious manner^ by means of what is

ffillllH'

Fig. 14.— Helix pomatia (Edible Snail).

called an operculumy a flat circular piece of shell-
like substance, just large enough to cover the
opening of the animals shell, to which it is attached
by a strong mucous cement. The snail, having
pre\aously fixed itself to a wall or a tree by means
of the same glutinous substance, or buried itself
among the dead leaves, remains throughout the
winter in this state, without food, until the warmth
and moisture of spring recalls it to life.

In countries where snails are used as food, they
are only taken whilst in this state of hybernation.
They are reared and fattened in what are called
snail-cj aniens {escargotoireSj French).

MOLLUSCA. 149

A snail-garden consists either of a large square
plot of ground boarded in, tlie floor of which is
covered half a foot deep with herbs, or of broad
shallow pits sunk in the ground. In these the
snails are kept. They are fed with fresh leaves,
bran, and potatoes during summer ; and in winter,
when they fix themselves against the walls of the
pit, they are collected, packed in casks, and sent to
market (see fig. 15, p. 153).

Four millions of snails are sent annually from
the snail-gardens of the town of Ulm, in Germany ;
and this is no monopoly, for the other snail-gardens
of Germany are in a flourishing state.

Helix ijomatia is not so common in England as on
the Continent ; it is found abundantly, however, near
Dorking. Some naturahsts believe it to have been
accidentally introduced into England, at a compara-
tively recent period; but others suppose it to be
indigenous to the British Isles, though rare. I
have frequently observed very fine specimens in the
neighbourhood of Brussels, where the climate seems
to suit it remarkably, and where its cultivation
would doubtless succeed admirably.

Helix aspersa, our common Garden Snail, is not
deemed worth the trouble of cultivation, so lonsf as
the former larger species can be obtained. It is
distributed over a large portion of the globe ; we
find it, or at least varieties of it, at the foot of

150 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Chimb or azo_, in tlie forests of Guiana and Brazil,
and on the coasts of the Mediterranean in Europe,
Asia, and Africa, as well as in the British Isles,
Belgium, Germany, etc.

The latter species, as B". pomatia, H. horticola,
etc., when boiled in milk, is said to afford a light
and strengthening food for invahds j and for many
years the large Apple Snail [H. ^omatia), the Eed
Arion [Arion riifus) — a reddish-brown slug, often
met with, in damp places, and extremely common in
the neighbourhood of Brussels — and a few others,
have been employed in medicine, in the form of
sweet syrups, for colds, sore throats, etc. Their
emollient qualities are owing to the large propor-
tion of mucilage they contain. Braconnot extracted
8 per cent, of this mucilage and 84 per cent, of
water from snails ; the remainder consisted of a few
substances not well known, the principal of which
he has called Ihnacine.

M. Figuier says that alcohol extracts from H.
pomatia a medicinal substance, which he calls
helicine, although it appears to be a mixture of
different principles, the nature of which has not
been determined, and, in all probability, does not
differ from the substance called " helicine '' by
Dr. De Lamarre of Paris, who has employed it for
many years in the treatment of phthisis. It is,
however, but another of the thousand and one phar-

MOLLUSCA. 151

maceutical secrets^ and if it have any advantage
over most of the others, it is that it contains
nothing hurtful or poisonous.

M. MyUus, unaware of the discovery of Jacob son
mentioned above, has found uric acid in E. ^omatia
immediately between the shell and the animal,
whence it can be extracted by water. By shaking
the snail in water, the uric acid is separated, and
soon deposits itself, as an insoluble powder, at the
bottom of the mucilaginous liquid thus produced.

Among sea snails, the common Periwinkle
(Turho littoreus), one of the most common Mollusca
in our latitudes, and small Whelks [Buccinum),
which are eaten with a pin, together with several
of their allies, are extensively used as food. The
heaps of periwinkle shells that are seen at the out-
skirts of fishing villages on the coasts of England,
Belgium, etc., suggest that some use ought to be
made of them. In soils which are deficient of lime,
these shells might be coarsely powdered, and spread
over the ground.

A species of Haliotis, sometimes called the Ear-
shell, a large, handsome Gasteroijod, whose shells,
when polished, present the most varied and magni-
ficent tints, with mother-of-pearl lustre, and which
are easily recognized by the circular holes perfo-
rated along the edges of the shell, is frequently
seen in the shops for sale as an ornament.

152 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

In HalioHs tricostalis {R. padollus of other
authors) tlie shell is furrowed parallel with the hne
of perforations. H, tuherculata may be taken as a
type of these curious Mollusca. There are seventy-
five species of HaUotis, which are scattered widely
over the world. A species that abounds on the
coasts of the Channel Islands^ where it goes by the
name of Omer, is cooked, after being well beaten to
make it tender ; other species are eaten in Japan.
The shell of the larger specimens, taken in the
warmer parts of the ocean, is much used for inlaying
and other ornamental purposes, for which it is very
valuable.

We must not imagine that the breeding or culti-
vation of snails is a modern undertaking, for Yarro,
in his ^^ De re Rustica," speaks of the enormous
size to which snails may be brought by culture.
Pliny, in his Natural History, repeats Varro^s state-
ments, and says that the large species of snail was
a favourite dish with the Romans, who were in the
habit of breeding and fattening them in snail
gardens, similar to those now seen on the Em'opean
Continent (Fig. 15).

A certain number of Gasteropoda are sought
after for the beauty of their shells. The Cowries,
certain species of Cyjpraia, are still used as money
by the Africans, the natives of the Laccadives, and
other Indian islands. The Cowrie^ properly so called.

MOLLUSCA. 155

Gyprcea moneta, L., has been imported into Liver-
pool of late years at the following rate : —

In the year 1851^ 1704 cwt. of Cypi^cea moneta ;
in 1852, 2793 cwt.; in 1853, 1680 cwt.; in 1854,
90 cwt.; in 1855, 311 cwt. There are two com-
mercial varieties of White Cowrie — one called the
Live Cowrie, taken when the animal is ahve in the
shell ; the other called the Dead Cowrie. Both are
largely collected in the Maldive Islands, and ex-
ported to Africa, where they are used as money,
and exchanged for palm-oil, ivory, gum, etc. They
are found upon the shores of the warmer seas, prin-
cipally in the Mediterranean and Indian Seas.

Other species of Cyprceaj known to the French
as Forcelaines, or as PucilageSj and by the English
as ''Love-shells/' are used as ornaments, etc.
Children sometimes place them to the ear, to hsten,
as they say, to the sound of the sea.* The small
CyprcEa are made into clasps, buttons, ear-rings,
bracelets, etc. (Fig. 16), and even into stags, ele-
phants, horses, etc., for children. They are not
only hawked about the streets in England, but
exposed for sale in the shop-windows of Continental

* The pecidiar noise that is heard when one of these shells, or
indeed any object of a somewhat similar shape, is placed to the ear,
has never been clearly explained. It appears, however, to be owing
to the movement of the air in and out of the shell, the current
being caused by approaching the cold shell to the ear.

156 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

sea-ports, where they are entitled ^^ Animaux en
Coquilles a 1 f)\ 25 c/^

Tlie larger species of Cyprcea were consecrated
by the Greeks at Cnidos_, in the temple of Yenus.

Fig. 16.— Ancient Egyptian Xecklace of Love-shells (Cypraea),
ornamented with Gold.

In certain parts of Africa the natives worship them
as idolsj or_, at least, used to do so a few years ago.
In more civilized countries, superstitious people
wore them as a talisman, to protect themselves from
certain maladies.

Almost all the species of this genus inhabit the
warmer parts of the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the
Mediterranean. A very small species is found on
our coasts.

The large spotted shells belonging to the Gaste^
ropod genus Conus, or Cone, on account of the
shape of these shells, and those of the genus OUva,
are seen as ornaments on the chimney-piece. Their
price is somewhat high.

The Mollusca belonging to the genera Cyprcea,

MOLLUSCA.

157

Oliva, Ovnia, etc._, sometimes quit their old sliells,
and produce new ones.

The Concli- shell, the product of Stromhus gigas,
is much prized as an ornament when the aperture
is of a fine rose colour. This large shell is a
common chimney-piece ornament, but it is also
used for making cameos ; and the inferior kinds are
purchased also by the masters of potteries as a
source of pure lime, or for other purposes. Great
numbers are sold for ornament. It is taken prin-
cipally on the shores of the West Indies, and is
imported from time to time into Liverpool, at the
rate of from 6000 to 11,000 shells per annum.

The allied Mollusc, Cassis (or Helmet shell), is
sometimes preferred for cutting cameos. Cassis
rufa is exported from the Maldives to Italy for this
purpose in considerable quantities.

Certain species of Murex and Buccinum are also
purchased as decorative ornaments.*

The Gasteropod known as Turhinella pijrum (or
Voluta gravis, Linn., Fig. 17), produces a large
pear-shaped shell, which is much prized in India for
making bracelets and other ornaments. This shell
has acquired a certain commercial importance, and

* Most of the shells mentioned in this work are to be seen in
the collection at the British Museum, and many have been elabo-
rately drawn and coloured in Lovell Reeve's extensive work on
Mollusca, in 20 vols.

158 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

is commonly called '' tlie Cliank-shell/^ They are
fislied for on the coasts of Ceylon^ in the Gulf of
Manaar, on the coast of Coromandel, etc., where
they are brought up by divers from depths of two
to three fathoms of water. Those taken with the
snail inside are most esteemed ; the dead shell,
thrown upon the beach by the tide, having lost its

Fig. 17.— Turbinella pyrum (Chank-shell).

enamel, is of little value. The number of these
shells imported at Madras from Ceylon is quite
astonishing. In the year 1854, 1,875,053 Turbinella
shells arrived there to supply the manufacturers
of ornaments ; in 1858, 1,268,892 shells were im-
ported; and in 1859, 1,910,050. Indeed, the Chank
fishery at Ceylon formerly employed six hundred
divers, and yielded a revenue of £4000 sterling per
annum for licences. It is now free. Sometimes
4,500,000 of Chank- shells are obtained in one year
in the Gulf of Manaar, valued at upwards of
£10,000 sterling.

The principal demand for these shells is for

MOLLQSCA.

159

making bangles, or armlets and anklets^ tke manu-
facture of wkicli is almost confined to Dacca. The
solid porcellanous skell is sliced into segments of
circles, or narrow rings of various sizes,, by a rude
semicircular saw. The bangles tkus constructed are
worn by tlie Hindoo women; tliey are beautifully
coloured, gilded, and often ornamented with precious
stones (Fig. 18).

These same Turbinella shells are also used fre-
quently as oil- vessels in the Indian temples, for which
purpose they are carved and ornamented.

Fio. 18.— Hindoo Bangle, made from the Chank-shell,
a. Segment of the shell, d. Segments united to form a bangle or bracelet.

In Dacca, on account of its weight and smooth-
ness, the shell of Turbinella pyriim is used for
calendering or glazing, and in Nepal for giving a
poHshed surface to paper.

The value of these shells imported in the rough
state into Madras and Calcutta, from the 30th of
April, 1851, to the 30th of April, 1859, is repre-

IGO UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

sented for Madras as £34^184, and for Calcutta,
£29,985.*

Sir Emerson Tennant lias given an account of
this shell, under tlie name of Turhinella rapa.

In a preceding chapter I mentioned the curious
manner in which lost or mutilated organs are re-
generated or replaced in inferior animals, and even
in some of the higher classes. This regenerative
faculty is very remarkable in snails, and MoUusca in
general. When a snaiFs shell is broken, the animal
repairs it in an astonishing manner; and when
some part of the animaPs body has been cut away,
it also reappears. Spallanzani, having cut off a
snaiFs horn, observed that it began to bud out
again in about five and twenty days, and continued
to grow until it was as long as the other. He then
cut away part of the head of another snail, and in
course of time the lost portion was renewed. When
the head was cut completely off the experiment
sometimes failed, and the animal died; but more
than once a new head grew again even in this case ;
at the end of a few months the snail appeared with
another head, in every respect similar to the lost
one. The snails thus operated upon retired into
their shells the moment decapitation had taken
place, and covering the opening with their oper-
culurrij remained thus enclosed for weeks, and even
* See *' The Technologist," vol. ii. (1862), p. 185.

MOLLUSCA. 161

montlis. "Wlieii forced out for examination at the
end of tliirty or forty days, some appeared without
any marks of renewal ; but in others, especially
when the weather was warm, a fleshy globule, of a
greyish colour, was observed about the middle of
the trunk.

No particular organization was noticed in
this globule, but in eight or ten days it became
larger — rudiments of lips, mouth, tongue, and the
smaller horns appeared, then gradually developed,
and in the course of two or three months the injmy
was so com^Dletely repaired, that the new head could
only be distinguished from the old one by its hghter
colour.

These experiments have been confirmed by
Bonnet, Schoeffer, Glerordi, and others.

Snails have been divided into two genera, in
one of which {Slugs) the animals have no shell.
The large slug [Limax maximus, L.), whose body is
grey spotted with black, is frequently seen in damp
cellars, gardens, etc.; and the small slug [L. agrestis,
L.), after summer showers, in kitchen gardens.
These have not yet been turned to much account
by man; on the contrary. But the red slug {Avion
rufus, L.) is still used in country places for cough
mixtures, etc.

The Snails, properly so called, belong to the
genus Helix. Of them I have spoken at length ;

M

162 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

their species can often be determined by tlie form
and colour of tlieir shells.

^ :^ ^ ^ :^

I shall now tm'n to the Bivalve Mollusca^ as
examples of which the Oyster and the Mussel may
be taken.

The common mussel {Mytilus edulis), which lives
in the sea^ and is quite distinct from the fresh-
water musselj of which I shall speak further on, is
found on our coasts in considerable quantities, and
also upon the rocky coasts of almost the whole of
Europe. These mussels live fixed to the rocks or
piles, to which they attach themselves by means of
their hyssiis, a sort of silky hair which the animal
secretes for this purpose. In some genera alHed to
mussels, such as the Pinna of the Mediterranean,
this byssus attains a foot and a half in length, and
the inhabitants of Palermo sometimes use it to
make gloves and stockings. Its chemical nature
does not appear to have been examined.

At certain seasons mussels are extensively con-
sumed as an article of food, for which purpose they
have been actively cultivated. For many years they
have been bred artificially in salt-water marshes
that are periodically overflowed by the tide, the
fishermen throwing them in at the proper seasons.
The animals, being undisturbed by the agitation of
the sea, and protected from the inhabitants of the

MOLLUSCA. 163

deep^ cast their spawn, and multiply wonderfully.
It was soon found that it required only one year to
people a mussel-bed of considerable size, and that
one-tenth may be left to renew the bed completely
after the harvest.

The mussels are taken from these beds from
July to October, and, though sold at a moderate
price, their commerce is not without importance,
many thousands of these moUnsca being annually
dispatched from the coasts into the interior.

After it had been discovered that a breed of
oysters might be crossed with other breeds, and
produce new varieties of oysters, similar experi-
ments were attempted with mussels, and have met
with considerable success, especially in Italy, and in
the Bay of Aisguillon, in France.*

It has been found that the mussels, which live

suspended to piles, ropes of vessels, nets, etc.,

attain to a much greater size than those which hve

on the bottom, whether this be sandy, rocky, or

muddy. This fact has been turned to advantage by

the Itahan and French mussel-breeders; thick

ropes, suspended to wooden piles, are placed in the

water of the mussel-beds, as represented in the

engraving; the mussels adhere to these ropes by

their byssus, and the ropes are then tightened

* D'OrbigTiy's " Hist, des Pares a Moules de rArrondissement
de la Rochelle," La Rochelle, 18-17 ; and De Quatrefage's " Souv.
d'un Nat.," tome ii. p. 360, et seq.

16-i UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

a little^ so that tlie animals no longer lie upon
tlie bottom, but live suspended in tlie water
(Fig. 19).

Mussels are apt to become very liurtfal as food
at certain seasons of tlie year, from May till the
end of August, a period denominated by tbe Frencb
" la periode des mois sans r."

Tlie cause of tliis does not appear to be satis-
factorily ascertained. Some attribute it to tlie
presence of spawn in tlieir gills during tliis period ;

Fig. 19.— Breeding Mussels upon ropes, as practised at La Rochelle, France.

others assert tliat mussels become unwholesome
from having eaten the spawn of the common star-
fish. The latter casts its spawn precisely from the
beginning of May till the end of August. How-
ever, the fact does not appear proved. In cases of
indisposition from this cause, small doses of ether,
frequently administered, have proved beneficial.

MOLLUSCA. ] 65

The genus Mijtilus is pretty numerous in species,
most of wliicli are used as food in different countries.
Mytilus choros is a large mussel, seven or eight
inches long, found on the coasts of the island
of Chiloe, on those of South America, etc. The
animal is as large as a gooseys egg, and is said to
be of a fine flavour. There is another variety still
larger. The natives cook them in the following
manner: — A hole is dug in the earth, in which
large smooth stones are placed ; upon these stones
a fire is made, and when they are sufficiently heated,
the ashes are cleared away, the mussels are heaped
upon the stones, and covered over first with leaves
and straw, then with earth, and left to stew. This
appears, from certain accounts, to be not only an
ingenious, but very superior mode of cooking
melius ca.

In our Mytilus eduUs small pearls are frequently
found — I shall have something to say on pearls
presently — and in the month of November the
small Pea-crab {Pinnotlieria) is often seen in their
shells.

Mi/tilus Magellanicusjwhich. inhabits the southern
coast of South America, is a mussel four or five
inches long, whose flesh is well flavoured and
nutritious. Its shell is easily recognized by its
longitudinal furrows.

Other species, such as Mytilus area of my friend

166 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Professor Kickx (tliat Van Beueden calls Dreissena
loohjmorpliaf and whicL. has been honoured witli a
liost of other names besides), are probably carried
about the world on the keels of ships, and very
widely diffused.

The species just mentioned, If. arcaj is found
inhabiting seas, lakes, rivers, marshes, etc., ex-
tending over nearly the whole surface of Europe,
from lat. 43° N. to lat. 56^ N. It is, moreover,
found in the earth in a fossil state.*

A highly-nutritious mussel, Mytilus litJwphagus,
L. (or Modiola lithophaga, Lam.), common enough
in the Mediterranean and at the Antilles, has the
faculty of burying itself alive, as it were, by pene-
trating into wood, stones, and rocks, as the Teredo
and Pholas bore into ships.

The M. litlioiDhagus form, even in the hardest
rocks, cavities which they can never leave, in con-
sequence of their increasing in size as they grow
older.

The common oyster [Ostrea edulis), a bivalve
mollusca, too well known to need description here,
is subject to great variation. Many different varie-
ties have been observed in nature, or artificially
produced by culture. A single oyster bnngs forth
from one to two million of young, of which the

* On this curious mussel, see Van Eeueden in " Auu. des Sc.
Nat., 1835."

MOLLUSCA. 167

greater part perish, before achieving their develop-
ment, if they are abandoned to themselves in the
ocean.

These animals spawn about the commencement
of spring, and_, according to most naturalists, they
fecundate their own eggs;* but instead of aban-
doning its spawn, like many other shell-fish, the
oyster keeps it lodged between the gills, where it
undergoes the process of incubation. This process
continues for some time, and that is why oysters
are not generally esteemed from May to September.

But the depth of the water in which the oyster
lives seems to have a considerable influence upon
the time of spawning. In its first state, the young
oyster exhibits two semi- orbicular films of trans-
parent shell, which are constantly opening and
closing at regular intervals. As they grow larger
they attach themselves to the rocks ; but for this
purpose they do not secrete long silky strings, as
the mussels do. When they find nothing solid to
adhere to, they become cemented together in large
quantities, each adhering to its neighbour, and con-
stitute solid shoals or oyster-beds, which sometimes

* The gasteropod and bivalve mollusca are all hermaphrodite ;
but with the snails and slugs we have been studying, the concourse
of two individuals (four organs) is necessary to ensure reproduc-
tion ; with bivalves, such as the oyster, it appears the male organ
can render fertile the products of the female organ in the same
animal.

168 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

attain many leagues in length and a considerable
thickness. Leuwenhoek counted upwards of three
thousand young oysters moving about in the hquid
confined in the interior of the valves of the parent
mollusc. These minute beings are provided with
shells in about twenty-four hours after the eggs
that |)roduced them are hatched.

M. G-aiUon says that the oyster feeds chiefly
upon a green animalcule^ called Vibrio navicidaris ;
but others assert that it Hves also upon vegetable
substances^ such as the mucilage of sea-weeds_, etc.

The liquid contained in oyster shells has a com-
position very different from that of sea- water ; it
contains a notable amount of albumen^ besides nu-
merous animalculge and flocculent vegetable matter.
It has lately been analysed by Payen, who finds it
composed of 85"98 parts of water_, 1*33 of organic
matter^ and 2*85 of mineral salts and sihca. Ether
has the property of coagulating and throwing down
the albumen contained in this liquid.

Some varieties of oyster five attached to the
roots or branches of trees that are periodically
covered by the rising tide. At the mouths of rivers
in South America and other tropical countries^
groups of magnificent oysters are seen thus sus-
pended together with that curious bivalve, Perna
ejohijppium, and are rocked to and fro by the balmy
sea-breeze when the tide retires. These are called

MOLLUSCA. 169

mangrove oysters, as they liang cliiefly upon the
root-like branches of the mangrove (Rhizophora
mangle), which propagates itself in an extraor-
dinary manner along the muddy banks of tropical
rivers.

Oysters which live suspended in this manner
grow to a much larger size than those which lie in
shoals at the bottom of the sea_, as we observed was
the case with mussels. At St. Domingo the negroes
cut them off with a hatchet, and they are served
upon the table with the roots.

Oysters have been cultivated more or less for
centuries; the ancients attached great importance
to this great cultivation. The Romans cooked
them in a great variety of manners ; and Apicius, a
glutton who lived in the time of Trajan, is said to
have possessed a pecuhar secret for fattening
oysters. Britain has been celebrated for its oysters
since the time of Juvenal. Phny informs us that
Sergius Orata got much credit for his stews of
Lucrine oysters, ^'^for the British oyster was not
then known." Among the antiquities discovered at
Cirencester, a Roman oyster-knife was found, and
presented to the British Association in 1856.

The art of propagating these mollusca in arti-
ficial oyster-beds has been much perfected of late
years. The works of M. Coste, who has studied
this question in extenso on the borders of the Medi-

170 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

terraneai^ and on tlie coasts of tlie Atlantic^ will be
consulted with profit by all oyster-breeders.

On tlie western coast of France^ wliere the water
is somewhat deep^ it was found that the oyster
requires five years to arrive at its complete growth,
whilst in shallow water two years are amply
sufficient.

A model plan for breeding oysters may be seen
in the lake of Fusaro,, in Italy, where mussels and
oysters are cultivated with much success — where
almost the entire quantity of spawn is developed with-
out loss. That oysters can be transported from one
coast to another, and that oyster-beds can be arti-
ficially produced on coasts which are deprived of
them, was proved by an Enghshman more than a
hundred years ago.

Guided by this knowledge and his own re-
searches, M. Coste lately proposed to the French
Grovernment to form a chain of oyster-beds all
along the western coasts of France. Several beds
exist there at present, but most of them are falhng
to decay, and others are completely exhausted.
M. Coste has already commenced operations. He
gets fresh oysters for propagation from the open
sea; he turns to advantage those that are rejected
by the trade ; and, lastly, he collects the myriads
of embryo oysters which, at each spawning season,
issue from the valves of the oyster, and Avhich are

MOLLUSCA. 173

now lost to commerce for want of some contrivance
to prevent their escape and inevitable destruction.

Every oyster, I have stated_, produces from one
to two million of young ; out of these not more than
ten or twelve attach themselves to their parentis
shell j all the rest are dispersed, perish in the mud,
or are devoured by fish ! Now, if bundles made of
the branches of trees, faggots of brushwood, or any
similar objects, be let down and secured to the
oyster banks by weights, the young oysters will, on
issuing from the parentis valves, attach themselves
to these faggots, and may, on attaining ]3erfect
growth, be taken up with the branches, and trans-
ported to places where it is desirable to estabhsh
new oyster-beds.*

I witnessed the success of this experiment made
upon the coast of Brittany, not very long ago. If
the process of transportation take place at the
proper period, success is almost certain. Between
the months of March and April, 1858, about
3,000,000 oysters, taken from different parts of the
sea, were distributed in ten longitudinal beds in
the Bay of St. Brieuc, on the coast of Brittany.
The bottom was previously covered with old oyster-
shells, and boughs of trees arranged in bundles.

* I called attention to some of these facts (which. I consider of
importance to oyster-breeders), on December 7, 1861, in an English
periodical.

174 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

To tliese tlie young oysters attach themselves ; and
so fi'iiitful were the results,, that one of the fascines
that was examined at the expiration of six months^
was found to have no less than 20,000 young
oysters upon it (Fig. 20).

A report furnished to the French Government
shows that about tiuenty-five thousand acres of coast
may be brought into full bearing in three j^ears, at
an annual expense not exceeding £400.

But to ensure the continuous propagation of
artificially-formed oyster-beds, the dredging must
be effected at proper intervals.* For this pui-pose
the beds must be divided into zones, and one-third
of each zone only be dredged each season. In this
manner an absolute repose of two years is allowed
to each of the zones.

Hitherto, the dredging used to take place in
September, the spawning season being then over;
but in that very month the j^oung oysters attach
themselves to their parents^ shells, so that the
mollusca are disturbed at a moment when the new
population is beginning to form. To avoid this,
M. Coste has proposed to fix the dredging season
in February or March.

In England there have been many Acts of
Parhament passed for the protection of oyster-

* Dredging is performed with a strong net, having an iron rod
at its base.

MOLLUSCA. 1 75

beds. The fisheries are at present^ however^ regu-
lated by a convention entered into between tlie
English and French Government s_, and an Act
(6 and 7 Vict. c. 79) passed to carry the same into
effect J which enacts that the fisheries shall open on
the 1st of September_, and close on the 30th of
April.

It has been said that the Romans formerly dis-
covered that different varieties of oysters could be
intermixed so as to produce cross-breeds superior
in every respect to the stocks whence they sprang.
Of late yearSj a medical man of Morlaix^ in France^
took some of those large unpalatable oysters termed
pied-de-cheval, and crossed them with some small
Ostend oysters. The result exceeded his expecta-
tions, and he produced a new breed of large oysters,
equal in delicacy to the small ones of Ostend.

The Ostend oysters, which are in such high
repute in Belgium, are fished upon the Enghsh
coast, and bred in artificial oyster-beds at Ostend.

Mr. Robert Macpherson, speaking of the common
oyster, says : — " The Ostrea eclulis of Linnaeus is
subject to much variation, which has occasioned the
making of one or two questionable species, and
rendered uncertain the limits of its distribution.
The common Enghsh and Welsh oyster is, however,
certainly abundant and of excellent quahty at
Redondela, at the head of Vigo Bay; and I have

176 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

likewise dredged it off Cape Trafalgar in sand, and
off Malaga in mud, but have not noticed it furtlier
eastward in tlie Mediterranean/''

It is a curious fact that oysters become sooner
developed in shallow water, and are then by far the
most highly-esteemed for the table. Moreover,
oysters that are dredged in deep water far from the
coast expel from their shell the whole of the water
it contains, the moment they are taken from their
natural element j whilst those which are taken on
the coast, from beds which are daily deprived of
water by the retiring tide, preserve the water con-
tained in the valves of their shells, and can be
transported to great distances without losing their
freshness. Thus the American oyster, one of the
many varieties of Ostrea edulis, is imported alive
into Livei"[30ol at the average rate of sixty-five
bushels a year.

In November, 1861, the French papers Le Journal
du Havre and the Moniteur, announced the success
of an ex]3eriment, made with a view of acchmatizing
American mollusca on the French coast. M. de
Broca, M. Coste, and Count de Ferussac, took part
in the undertaking, and on the coast at Hogue Saint
Wast breeding-beds were prepared. In 1861, the
steward of the " Arago ^' steamer brought over about
200 oysters, and the same quantity of dams, a shell-
fish consumed in great quantities in the United

MOLLUSCA. 177

States. These were deposited in the beds of Saint-
Wast, under M. Coste's immediate superintendence,
and in November following it was ascertained that
the specimens were healthy, and promise to supply
abundance of spawn for the propagation of the
species on all the coasts of France. This experiment
has induced M. Coste to make preparations for accli-
matizing on the French httoral all the best kinds of
mollusca from different parts of the globe, and we
learn that Professor Agassiz has offered his aid in
this useful undertaking.

The opening of the oyster fisheries at the
mouth of the river Auray, in France, coincided on
the 30th of September 1861, with the meeting of
the Agricultural Society of the province, presided
over by the Princess Bacciocchi. At two o'clock in
the afternoon, 220 fishing-boats, covered with flags
and flowers of all descriptions, sailed out to the
oyster-beds, in presence of an immense concourse of
people, which had spread itself over the brido-es,
along the quays, on the side of the mountain Du
Loch, and all along the port of Auray, the weather
being magnificent. The boats anchored on the
Plessix bed, about half a mile from the port, and
commenced dredging. In the short space of one hour
the product of this fishing arnounted to 350,000 oysters.
In the evening the Httle town of Auray was illumi-
nated, and dancing kept up out of doors to a late

X

178 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

hour by tlie peasants and tlie fishermen. It is the
first time that the culture of the oyster has been
thus brilUantly inaugurated. Some days after this
Httle fete, 320 fishing-boats^ carrying 1200 men,
began dredging off the same beds. Twenty millions
of oysters had been brought into port when I com-
menced this chapter.

Among oysters, a genus of mollusca called Spon-
dylus are remarkable for their curious shells, which
are covered with long spines; there are about twenty-
five species of them, inhabiting the warmer parts of
the ocean, the Mediterranean, etc. They are col-
lected as curiosities. A host of useful bivalves, be-
longing all to this immense family of Lamelli-
branchiate Mollusca, to which the oysters and mussel
belong, crowd upon us.

To begin with the least important of them;
every one knows the common CocMe {Cardmm
ediile). The genus Cardium is very widely distri-
buted. The species are generally found buried in
the sand on the sea- shore. Many of them attain a
considerable size. Our common cockle forms an
abundant and nutritious article of food, especially
in seaport towns.

The curious mollusca belonging to the genus
Solen, or Razor-shell, are frequently picked up on
our coasts. They furnish us an example of a bivalve
shell which is many times wider than long (though

MOLLUSCA. 1 79

an ordinary observer would say it was much longer
than wide). On the coasts of Scotland, where the
specimens are very fine, they constitute an article of
food.

Feden maximus, or the common Scallop, fre-
quently met with on our coasts, is also an edible
species, and, when properly cooked, is considered a
delicacy. Other species of Pecten, more beautiful,
are sought as ornaments, and employed as such in
difierent ways. I have seen elegant ladies^ purses
constructed with these shells. In the same manner
are the pretty httle pink and yellow shells of the
TelUna (common enough on some of our coasts),
utilized in the shops to construct various kinds of
ornaments, to decorate workboxes, pincushions, etc.

The largest shell known is
that of the immense oyster, Tri-
dacna gigas, which inhabits the
Indian seas. It is known in Eng-
Hsh as the Clamp- shell ; the
French term it henitier, because
one of its valves resembles the fount ^\Thl^':^.l'?Srs\diTf
which contains the holy- water (Fig. ^ ^^^^ ''
21) in Roman Catholic churches.* The smaller

* The two holy-water founts {henitiers) in the church of St.
Sulpice, Paris, are valves of the Tridacna. They were presented
by the Venetians to Francois I. A friend of mine has an elegant
ornament for cards, letters, etc. : in the place of the wooden cross
(Fig. 21), is a statuette of Yenus rising from the sea.

180 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

specimens are indeed sold in considerable numbers
attached to crucifixes made to hang against the wall.
This shell is also sought for to manufacture knife-
handles^ penholders^ and a number of elegant orna-
ments of various descriptions.

To the same group belong the shells of the genus
Cliama, which attain also a considerable size. These
and the shells of the Gasteropoda_, Strombiis and
Cassis J mentioned before_, are those with which
cameos are made.

Real or stone cameos are cut at great expense
in certain varieties of onyx^ agate, or jasper. The
art of cutting these hard stones is very ancient, and
the ornaments thus produced reahze a very high
price, especially when the workmanship is of a
superior quality. They are still cut in Italy, princi-
pally at Rome; but cameo artists are not unfre-
quently met with in other parts of Europe.

The practice of working cameos on shells, and
producing what is called a shell cameo, has been in-
troduced at a comparatively modern period into
Italy. It is carried on to a great extent at Rome
in the present day. Shell cameos are much easier
to execute than stone cameos; hence, however
beautiful the design, they are much less valuable
than the latter. A good stone cameo, the size of
half-a-crown, with a simple head as device, is
frequently worth a thousand francs (£40) ; whilst a

MOLLUSCA. 181

shell cameo of tlie same description, unless of extra
ordinary merit, would rarely fetch fifty francs (£2).

Cameos are executed on shells as on stones ;
the subject is worked in relievo on the white
portion or outer crust of the shell, while the inner
surface, of a pink or brown tint, is left for the
ground. Cameo artists who work upon shells are
to be met with in London and Paris. The only
shells that I have seen employed are the Conch
shell {Stromhus gig as) and the Helmet shell {Cassis)
among the Gasteropoda, and the shells of the genus
Chama. The latter mollusc inhabits the inter-
tropical seas j the species hves fixed to the rocks ;
and its foot (or under part of the body by which the
animal moves) is remarkable from being bent, and
resembhng in form the foot of a man. The species
known to the French as the Game feuilletee is one
of the most curious, and may be taken as a type of
the group. The superior valve of the shell is com-
posed of superposed plates or layers of calcareous
matter of different colours. The cameos made from
it resemble closely those cut upon agate or onyx.

I have seen very beautiful cameos cut in Paris
upon the ordinary Conch shell {Stromhus gigas)^
and sell at eighty francs (£3 6s.). Probably other
shells might be found to answer the same purpose ;
it is sufl&cient that they present two or more layers
of different colours, which is not unfrequently the

182 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

case witli some of the larger Gasteropoda and
Bivalves of the Southern seas.

There exists a pecuhar kind of cameo termed
the Chinese cameo j ov pearl cameos. The process by
which they are made has lately been discovered : —

'^ The Ningpo river abounds in oysters_, which the
natives take up when they have grown to a certain
size. The shells are then partially opened^ care
being taken not to injure the animal^ and moulds
bearing the required design are introduced be-
tween the valves. The shell is then allowed to
close^ and the oysters thus operated upon are
placed in beds prepared for their reception. After
remaining there for some months, they are again
taken up and opened, when the mould is found
beautifully crusted over with mother-of-pearl ; it is
then dexterously detached, and made into various
ornaments.''^

We will now turn our attention to the Mollusca
which produce ijearls. Of pearl ^' oysters," as
they are generally called, or rather pearl mussels —
for the animals that furnish us with these jewels
are more closely alhed to the mussel than to the
oyster — there are two descriptions, namely, those
which inhabit rivers or fresh water, and those which
live in the sea.

We shall have to consider, then, the fresh-ivater
pearl J and the marine or Oriental pearl ; but as the

MOLLUSCA. 183

latter is the most important^ I shall speak of
it first.

On the shores of those countries where pearl
oysters abound,, they are sought for as eagerly as
we seek for Ostrea edulis on our coasts. We have
seen how the latter is at present drawing the
attention of practical men^ who are endeavouring to
perfect its breed, and to propagate its species
widely. Such will doubtless happen one day for
the pearl oyster, whose products are so valuable ;
for not only does this mollusc produce the pearl —

Fig. 22. — Avicula iiiar^aiiiiicra (I'earl-oyster) .

the '^^ jewel of the sea/^ — but also that beautiful
substance known as mother- of -]p earl, with which
buttons, knife-handles, penholders, work-boxes, and
ornaments of every description, are constantly manu-
factured.

The animal in question is the Avicula marcjariti-
fera, L. (Fig. 22). Its shell, of a semicircular

184 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

form^ is of a greenish tint on tlie outside^ and of a
beautiful pearly lustre in tlie interior. It consti-
tutes motlier-of-pearl^ wliicli is an important article
of commerce at the present day. The ijearls for
which this mollusc is also sought are small^ acci-
dental excrescences found in the sheU^ often buried
in the animals body, but most commonly seen
adhering to one of the valves of the shell itself.
Like other animals of the mussel kind, Avicula
wargaritifera secretes a hyssus, by which long silken
thread it adheres to submarine objects.

Other Mollusca which inhabit the ocean have
been observed to produce pearls. Such are the
common oyster [Ostrea), many mussels (Mytilus),
and some bivalves belonging to the genus Perna.
They are also produced by certain fresh-water
mussels {JJnio).

The exact nature of a pearl has been the object
of much discussion. Some inquirers imagine it to
be the result of a particular disease, which causes
the animal to produce these pearly concretions, by
occasioning in some parts of the shell an unwonted
production of calcareous matter. This being pro-
duced abundantly and suddenly, does not spread
itself uniformly over the interior surface of the valve
of the shell, but constitutes those little concretions
we call pearls.

In the opinion of others, pearls are regarded as

MOLLUSCA. 185

a secretion produced by tlie animal in perfect
healtti^ with a view of strengthening certain por-
tions of its shell, either on account of a slight
fracture, or to close up apertures pierced in it by
marine worms, or, again, to fm^nish strong points
of adherence for certain muscles or ligaments of the
animaFs body. Be this as it may, Linnasus, in his
experiments on fresh- water mussels {TInio), dis-
covered a means of causing the mollusc to produce
pearls artificially, as we shall see presently.

As to the geographical distribution of xivicula
margaritifera, which produces mother-of-pearl and
the real Oriental pearl, it is found in the Persian
Grulf, on the coasts of Arabia Felix, on the coasts of
Japan. It is at Cape Comorin, and in the Grulf of
Manaar, at the island of Ceylon, that the most
productive and celebrated pearl fisheries have been
established. Oriental pearls are likewise met with
in America, on the coasts of Cahfornia, at Mada-
gascar, and at the island of Tahiti.

The Gulf of California is about 700 miles long,
and from 40 to 120 miles in width. One of the
first shells discovered in its waters was a pearl
oyster, the Avlcida fimhriata {Margariphora mazat-
lantia of others), to obtain which the Spaniards, in
the seventeenth century, employed from 600 to 800
divers ; the value of the pearls obtained amounted
annually to about 60,000 dollars. This traSic was

186 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

SO exhausting to tlie pearl oyster beds, tliat tlie
fishery is now almost entirely abandoned. Occa-
sionally _, however, a shipload of pearl-shell is sent
to Liverpool, and sold at the rate of £2 to £4 per
cwt. for manufacturing buttons, ornaments in
mother-of-pearl, etc.

There is another species of Avicula, A. sterna of
Gould, known to exist in the same locahty.

Avicula onargaritifera, hke other mussels and
oysters, lies in banks or beds of greater or less
depths. On the west coast of Ceylon these shoals
occui' about fifteen miles from the shore, where the
depth is twelve fathoms ; and there, at Aripo,
Chilow, Condatchy, etc., the greatest of all pearl
fisheries has been carried on for centuries. The
season for fishing always commences in March or
April, because in those latitudes the sea is then in
its calmest state. The fishing continues till the
end of May.

The boats of the pearl-fishers hold about twenty
men, ten of whom are experienced divers. These
descend rapidly through the water to the rocks on
which the mollusca are clustered, by placing their
feet upon a large stone attached to a rope, the
other end of which is fastened to the boat. They
carry with them a second rope, the extremity of
which is held by two men in the boat, whilst to the
other extremity, held by the diver, is fixed a strong

MOLLUSCA. 187

net or basket. Every diver is armed with a powerful
knife, by means of wliicli lie detaches the Avicula
from the rocks, and which serves to defend him in
case he is attacked by a shark. There are marvel-
lous stories told of the length of time these divers
can remain under water ; but persons who have
inhabited Ceylon for many years assure us that
they never saw a diver remain submerged for more
than fifty seconds at a time. They plunge and
relieve each other by turns, from daybreak till
about ten in the forenoon^ when the sea-breeze sets
in, and the whole flotilla return to shore. In a short
time we shall probably see those iron head-cases
and tubes, now used by the divers at work in the
Thames, adopted by those of Ceylon. The pearl
oysters are taken from the boats, and heaped upon
the shore to putrefy. For this purpose an enclosed
space of ground is allotted to them. As soon
as the putrefaction is sufficiently advanced, the
shells are taken and placed in troughs, where sea-
water is thrown upon them. When decomposition
sets in, the body of the mollusc soon ceases to
adhere to the shells and the pearls they contain,
which are then taken out, washed, and assorted.
The pearl fishery of Ceylon, in 1857, brought in
£20,550 Ihs.^d.; the same year cliank- shells, before
mentioned, realized £188 95.

Such is the present state of things. Our readers

188 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

will perceive what a vast field for amelioration is
offered liere^ and wliat a great improvement it
would be to do away not only witb. tlie barbarous
mode of divings by breeding tlie Avicula in appro-
priate places_, but witli tlie unwliolesome process of
extracting tlie pearls and shells from tlie putrid
heaps of mollusca.

There is no doubt_, from the experiments already
made with the common 03'ster^ that the pearl
oyster might be easily submitted to culture ; as it
is^ the pearl banks in Ceylon_, according to Sir
Emerson Tennent^ were^ from 1834 to 1854_, an
annual charge, instead of producing an income to
the colony. Seven years is the joeriod required_, in
the present state of things, before the pearl oyster
arrives at perfection, and can be sought with ad-
vantage ! Diving-bells, or the di\dng apparatus
used in constructing bridges, would be a protection
against sharks, etc., though accidents from this
cause seldom or ever occur ; the noise of the boats
seems to scare the sharks away.

According to Dr. Kelaart, the pearl oyster can
sever its byssus and change its place, so as to
migrate to some distance in search of food, or to
escape from impurities in the water, and so moor
itself again in more favourable situations. This
may account somewhat for their disappearance at
intervals, and the bad crops yielded by localities

MOLLUSCA. 189

whicli were abundant in i^roduce the previous
season.

In Europe the white pearls are most valued,
whilst the inhabitants of Ceylon prefer those of a
rose colour, and the Indians and other Asiatic
people those which are yellow. Pearls, indeed,
vary much in colour and appearance; some are
quite black, others dark blue or purple, with a
silvery or golden lustre.

During the process of fishing, few places are
more lively than the western point of Ceylon. The
shells and cleansed pearls are bought and sold on
the spot, in small bamboo huts erected for the pur-
pose ; and, besides this trade, the confluence of
crowds of strangers from different countries attracts
dealers in all sorts of merchandize. The long line
of huts is a continuously animated bazaar ; all is life
and activity. But as soon as the fishery closes,
scarcely a human being, or even a habitation, can
be seen for miles, and the most dreary solitude pre-
vails until the ensuing year.

According to Woodward, the largest pearl known
is said to belong to a Mr. Hunt. It measures two
inches in length and four inches in circumference,
weighing 1800 grains.

The nacreous lustre of the pearl-shell is an
optical phenomenon, termed interference ; it occurs
on glass which has lain in the earth for a length of

190 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

time^ and lias become decomposed at its surface;
the same is likewise seen on tlie featliers of liumming
birds, parrot s_, etc._, and in certain cliemical pre-
parations.* It is too complicated a subject to be
discussed liere.

Up to tbe present time no attempt lias been
made to cultivate, to propagate artificially, or to
acclimatize in other seas, the pearl oyster of Ceylon.
To give an idea to what extent the pearl fishery is
prosecuted at the present time, I will quote a pas-
sage from the ^' Colombo Observer," (1858), which
is as follows : —

'' A letter of the 20th March states—' We have
had ten days' fishing, and there is about £15,000
already in the chest. There will be ten days' more
fishing. Oysters sold to-day as high as twenty-five
rupees per thousand.''

The shell of Avicula margaritlfera is imported
to Liverpool from the East Indies, Panama, and
Manilla, at the average rate of 490 tons per annum.
Pearls are frequently imported from the East Indies,
but there is no account kept of the quantity.

It is not unusual to find small pearls in the common

edible mussel [Mytilus edulis), but they are seldom

large enough to be of any value. It might, perhaps,

* I have discovered that most substances possess this property,
when they are viewed in a proper direction in the sunshine. Polished
iron, ebony, and other descriptions of hard wood, possess it to a
remarkable degree.

MOLLUSCA. 191

be possible to cause tbis mussel to manufacture
larger pearls. However, sucb as tbey are, tbe pearls
of M. ediilis bave been for many years an article of
commerce in England.

Tbere are two kinds of fresb-water mussel wbicb
resemble eacb other very closely ; tbe first are found
in pools and otber stagnant waters, and are known
in Engbsb as ^^Pond mussels ^^ {Anodontes). Tbe
otber description inbabit running water, and are
seen in sparkling streams. Tbese belong to tbe
genus Unio, and are tbose to wbicb I am about
to draw attention.

Fig. 23.— Unio m^irgaritiferus (Fresh-water pearl-mussel).

Our readers are probably acquainted witb tbe
'^painter's mussel'^ {Unio pidorum). It is seen in
tbe sbop-windows of vendors of pencils, colours
and engravings, witb its edges gilt. It is used by
miniature painters to bold colours, and tbat is all
I bave to say of it. A mucb larger and by far more
interesting mollusc is tbe fresb-water pearl mussel
(Unio margaritifenis) (Fig. 23), a species wbicb is

192 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

common enongli in England, Wales, Scotland, Ger-
many, etc. It lias a large bivalve sliell, wliicli, when
clean, is of a peculiar yello^visli-brown colour, witli
a wide blue band round tlie edges. Tlie species lias
been known for ages in Scotland, wliereit produces
j)earls (sometimes called " Scotch, pearls ^') that are
now and then quite equal to the Oriental pearl of
the Avicula. Old writers assure us that it was these
Enghsh jewels that tempted Julius Caesar to renew
his visit to oui^ island.

Unio margaritiferus is as common in Germany as
with us. Yeiy fine specimens are seen in the brooks
and rivulets of the Bavarian woods and the moun-
tains Fichtelgebirge. Its pearls have hkewise
attracted attention, and although they are not equal
to the Oriental pearl, they are held in certain esti-
mation by the jewellers ,• and the rich collection of
Bavarian pearls that figured some years ago at the
Industrial Exhibition of Munich, proved that in
Germany the culture of the pearl may one day
become a considerable branch of industry. A step
has indeed been taken already in this direction.
An accomphshed geologist. Dr. Yon Hesslmg, of
Munich, was directed, a few years back, by the
King of Bavaria, to make minute investigations into
the manner in which these pearl mussels live, and
under what circumstances they produce their jewels,
for all the shells do not contain pearls. Dr. Yon

MOLLUSCA. 193

Hessling was also directed to examine whether the
artificial propagation of Unio margaritiferus, with a
view of producing pearls_, is practicable. The results
of his labours were published in 1859 at Leipzic^ in
an 8vo volume of 376 pages, entitled, ^'Die Perl-
muscheln und ihre Perlen/^ etc., to which interest-
ing work I refer those who would undertake similar
experiments in England.

Two descriptions of pearls are collected and
turned to account in Wales. They are known in
England as the ^' Conway river pearls/'' The first,
which are of little value, are taken from the
common mussel {Mytilus edulis), at the mouth
of the river Conway. The others, which are fre-
quently very fine, are taken further up the stream,
from the shells of Unio margaritiferus. As early as
1693, a paper was pubhshed in the ^''Philosophical
Transactions,^-' by Sir Kobert Kedding, who states
that at that period an extensive fishery for these
pearls was carried on by the natives who lived near
the rivers in the west of Ireland, ''' Although, by
common estimate,^ ^ says the author, " not above
one shell in a hundred may have a pearl, and of
those pearls not above one in a hundred be tolerably
clear, yet a vast number of fair merchantable pearls,
and too good for the apothecary, are offered for sale
by those people every summer assize. Some gen-
tlemen make good advantage thereof, and myself

o

194 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

saw a pearl bouglit in Ireland for fifty shillings^ tliat
weighed tliirty-six carats, and was valued at £40/^ etc.

In 1842 letters from Norway mentioned tliat
tliere liad been found in the bed of the great stream
that runs through Jedderen, in the district of
Christiansand, and which_, from the excessive heats,
became dry, a great number of fresh- water mussels
containing pearls, some of which were so fine that
they were valued at £60 a piece. At the beginning
of the seventeenth century, when Norway was
annexed to Denmark, the Government took the
pearl-fishery of this stream into its own hands, and
the finest pearls were sent to Copenhagen to be
deposited in the Crown treasury. After this the
produce of the fishery became so low that it did not
pay the expenses, and it was abandoned.

Unio margaritiferus is very plentiful in the river
Conway, about a mile above the ancient bridge of
Llanrwst, near the domain of Gwydir, where the
water is beautifully clear, rapid, and deep. It may
be taken from this spot up to Bettws-y-Coed.*

I will terminate what I have to say of these pearls
by a word upon theii' artificial production in the shell-
fish itself. The finest pearls are always seen plunging
into the body of the animal that inhabits the shell.
I have remarked above that the pearl is a product of

* " It was probably from this spot," says Mr. Garner, "that
Sir Eichard Wynne obtained the pearl which he presented to the
Queen of Charles II."

MOLLUSCA. 195

secretion ; it is a secretion of calcareous matter in
a globular form under circumstances tliat are yet
imperfectly known, though we can place the animal
in a condition that will induce it to secrete pearls.
For instance, if a specimen of TJnio margaritiferus
be taken, and one of the valves of its shell be pierced
with a sharp instrument, so as to drill a hole almost
through it, care being taken not to allow the in-
strument to penetrate completely through the shell,
it will be found that the animal secretes a pearl upon
that part of its shell.

Linnaeus succeeded perfectly in causing the for-
mation of pearls in the shell of this same fresh-
water mussel. He found that when grains of sand
were placed between the shell and the body of the
mollusc a pearl was produced which enveloped the
grain of sand. This might have been expected, for
sections of Oriental pearls often exhibit veiy fine
concentric laminae, surrounding a grain of sand,
or some such extraneous matter.

We have only one or two more Bivalves to
mention before closing this chapter.

Bufibn speaks of a mussel found in the Medi-
terranean which the Sicilians and Itahans turn to
account for making gloves and stockings. It is a
species of Pinna. This genus of mollusca belongs
to the same group as the pearl oyster [Avicula) ;
like other mussels, the Pinna secrete a long hyssus,
by which they hold to the rocks. The species vary

196 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

mucli in dimensions according to tlieir age, but often
attain a considerable size, and secrete a byssus more
than a foot long. Tlie two valves of tlieir sliell are
equal, and shaped somewhat like a lady^s fan half
open. Their byssus is not, hke that of the common
mnssel, scanty and coarse, but long, fine, lustrous,
and abundant. The animal lives generally half-
buried in the sand, being anchored to an adjacent
rock by its long byssus. The latter is not unlike
silk, though its chemical nature does not appear to
have been examined. It is employed in the manu-
factories throughout Italy. It appears that the
Itahans cannot dye this substance, and that, con-
sequently, it can only be used in its natural brown
colour. Eeaumur called these mollusca the sillc-
worms of the sea. The inhabitants of Palermo have
manufactured this byssus into various species of
cloth, which are usually of a high price. It takes
many individuals to furnish enough silky thread to
manufacture a pair of stockings, and the thread is
so fine, that a pair of stockings made of it can be
easily contained in a snuff-box of ordinary size.
The species generally sought for is Pinna nobilis, L.
(Fig. 24, P. marina of others), which is taken ofi"
the coast of Sicily, at Toulon, etc., by means of a
cramp, a species of iron fork, the prongs of which
are perpendicular to the handle. It inhabits water
from fifteen to thirty feet deep.

MOLLUSCA. 197

Pinna muricata lias been called by tbe Englisb
'^ the great silk mussel ;" and P. flahellum furmshes
a similar silky byssus. These tbree species all
inliabit the Mediterranean.

The genus Pinna is also remarkable by the fact
that these mollusca, especially P. nobilis, produce
pearls. These are generally small, and of an amber
colour or reddish, sometimes grey or of a lead

Fig. 24.— Pinna nobilis, L., showing its byssus, called by Keaumur
the " Silkworm of the sea."

colour; others are black, and shaped Kke a pear.
They are frequently large enough to be of con-
siderable value.

J|v Jj^ ?j; 5jC JjC

The shells of these mollusca, which are not
handsome enough to be employed in ornamental
work, etc., can still be made useful in a variety of
ways. They are composed of carbonate of lime,
with a very little phosphate of lime and other salts,
and organic matter. On soils which require lime,
pulverized shells may be found of service, especially

198 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

in vine countries^ wliere lime in tlie soil Las a
marked influence upon tlie quality of tlie wine. By-
calcining tliem we obtain quicklime of a very pure
description. By acting upon tliem with sulphuric
acid^ tliey are converted into gypsum or plaster of
Paris (sulphate of lime)^ tliougli this substance is
too common in natui^e to induce us to prepare it in
any quantity from shells. By dissolving shells in
hydrochloric acid^ after they have been calcined to
destroy their organic matter^ we can obtain chloride
of calcium^ a salt much used in chemical processes.
By acting upon the lime produced from shells with
chlorine^ we can transform it into chloride of hme or
bleaching powder^ etc. All these products may be
economically obtained fi'om shells_, such as the
oyster shell_, wherever they are abundant ; and the
compounds thus produced are purer than those
obtained from chalky or other varieties of carbonate
of lime found in nature.

The beautiful molluscous animals included in
the family of Tunicata, many of which resemble
transparent bells of the most delicate organization^
and some of which are phosphorescent at night,
form valuable specimens for the aquarium. The
Bryozoa are equally beautiful, but much smaller;
and in many their beauties can only be appreciated
under the microscope.

Worms.

Cicrious observations upon, Worms — Iieprodb.Lotive
power of the JTa'is — Bahularicu — Terehella — Lum-
hrious — (Planaria — Helminthes, or Entozoa — ^he
cominon Earth-vjorm, Lumbrious terrestris — 'd'he
Leeah, Hirvudo mediGincblis — ^he Horse-leeoh) H.
sang-uisug-a — Hirzcdioultiire, or Leeoh breedAng- — Its
crioelties — Extent to which it is carried on in France
— barometers of Leeches and Frogs — Worms for
the j^quarium.

WORMS.

OvfOl\NE of tHe most interesting classes of animals
is certainly tliat of Wo7ins. Wlio lias not heard
of the wonderful power of reproduction or re-
generation of lost parts manifested by the
NdiSy those curious little organisms which^ in
clusters of myriads upon myriads_, form those large
red patches on the muddy banks of the Thames or
other riverSj and which vanish hke magic when a
stone or stick is thrown upon them ? Cut off the
head of one of these Httle fresh- water worms eight
successive times_, and you will find that it grows
again seven times ; the eighth decapitation has
proved too much for the reproductive power of the
Nciis, and this time the head has disappeared for
ever ! The number of times the head will be repro-
duced depends upon the vital powers of the indi-
vidual submitted to experiment. Bonnet^ in his
'^ Observations sur les Vers d'eau douce/^ states
that he cut a Na'is into twenty- six pieces, and each
piece became a new worm. He produced thus

202 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

twenty-six Na'is. He cut tlie head off tlie same
Nals twelve successive times^ and twelve successive
times tlie head was reproduced. M. Flourens,, in
his work '^ Sur la Longevite Humaine/'' etc^ says,
" There exists in the animal economy not only a
force of development which brings each part up to
the precise term assigned for it, but an individual
force of reproduction, first brought to light by
Trembley^s experiments on polyps.^^

Look again at the marvellous manner in which
the marine worms, Sabularia and Terehella, construct
the tubes they inhabit, by means of the grains of
sand and rock of the sea- shore, or at the curious
pliospliorescent faculty, or emission of light in the
dark, possessed by many marine worms, and even
by our common earth-worm [Litmhricus) , at certain
seasons of the year* j or still again, at the curious
moveable org-an of deo4utition observed in certain
voracious fresh-water Flanarice, which even after it
has been torn away from the animaPs body, con-
tinues to swallow down everything that is presented
to its gluttonous orifice !

These worms may not appear to be directly
useful to man, or to his commerce, save, perhaps, as
articles sold for the aquarium, which has lately be-
come so fashionable. But, on the other hand, what

* See my "Phosphorescence, or the Emission of Light by
Minerals, Plants, and Animals." London, 1862.

WOEMS. 203

a delightful and interesting source of study they
afford us ; and by such study are they not instru-
mental in enlightening our minds^ in developing our
pensive faculties, upon which the entire happiness
of our race depends ?

Greater marvels still await us in the numerous
tribes of Helminthes, or intestinal worms. In these
curious beings the organs of sense appear to be
limited to that of feehng (or touch) ; in some diges-
tive organs are altogether wanting_, and their nutri-
ment penetrates their tissues as it would those of a
fungus or a conferva. 'No breathing apparatus is
required here — how could it be otherwise with
creatures who live constantly shut up in the tissues
of other animals, often in cells or ca\T-ties which do
not communicate with the external air ? These
curious animals are reproduced either by a sort of
budding, by spontaneous division, or by eggs.
When the two sexes exist, they are either found
united on the same individual, or there exist distinct
males and females. In these cases the young animal
is developed from an egg ; but between the egg
period and that of the perfect animal, we observe,
as in insects, mollusca, Crustacea, and we may say,
in fact, all other animals, a series of metamorphoses
or transformations which, in the worms of which we
speak, are exceedingly remarkable. Thus the em-
bryo developed from the egg does not always grow

204 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

up immediately into an animal similar to its parent.
Often tlie young helminthe transforms itself into a
species of larva capable of giving birtli^ without
fecundation^ to other larvae, whicli are alone capable
of becoming animals similar to the parent worm.
But the most curious portion of theu^ history is that
these larvce are generally found in the tissue of ani-
mals very different from the one in which the perfect
worm exists^ so that before one of them can complete
its development^, and become a perfect worm^ it must
be transported into another anima?s body ! Thus it
is that Gijsticercus cellulosa, Gm.^ which resembles a
white cell or vescicle^ and constitutes a pecuhar
disease with pigs, in whose muscular tissue it de-
velopes itself and multiplies with fearful rapidity,
transforms itself into Twnia, or tapeworm, in the
intestines of the human body; in fact, Cijsticerciis
is the larvae of Tcenia.^

* But these details are foreign to my subject. I cannot, how-
ever, let pass this opportunity without noting down some recently
discoTered facts relating to this interesting class of animals. Among
Helminthes, or JEntozoay as they are sometimes called, is a genus,
Filaria, of which a species is often found in the heart of oyer- fed
sheep, etc. It was formerly thought that these Filaria underwent
no metamorphosis ; but M. Joly has lately discovered a number of
female nemato'id worms in the heart of a seal {PJioca vitulina) ; they
belonged evidently to the genus Filaria : the individuals measured
fifteen to twenty millimetres in length ; the species appeared to be
new, and was named Filaria Cordis phocoe. It is supposed that this
worm is conveyed into the body of the seal by the fish which the
latter feeds upon, and in whose bodies it exists in the larva state,

WORMS. 205

Tlie only use that has yet been made of Lum-
hricus terrestrisj or tlie common earth-worm, of
which there are many varieties, is that of baiting
the hooks and nets of fishermen. The large varie-
ties that crawl upon the damp grass at night, living
during the day in the earth, are captured in large
quantities by poachers, etc., for baiting night-lines.
In the same manner marine worms are used by the
fishermen of seaport towns.

and is known at present as Filaria pischim. But this F. piscium^
being always deprived of sexual organs, M. Joly looks upon it as
the larva wliich, in the body of the seal, completes its development,
and becomes F. Cordis phocoe.

Entozoa possess a wonderful tenacity of life. They have been
known to revive after being placed for half an hour in boiling water.
They have likewise been seen to survive the cold produced by ice j
and they have been brought to life again after having lain in a dry
state for six or seven years. They live in the most extraordinary
places. In certain tropical climates there exists a species of rattle-
snake, which, in Cumana, enters into the houses to catch mice. In
the abdomen ar Tin the large pulmcaary cells of this reptile, a five-
mouthed worm, Pentastoina, j.as been discovered. Another species
of Pentastoma is found in the bladder of frogs. Ascaris hmihrici, a
little spotted worm, the smallest of aU species of Ascaris, has been
discovered under the skin of our common earth-worm (Lumbricus
terresfris), furnishing us with an example of a worm living upon a
worm. Leucophora nodulata is a very minute worm, of a silvery
or pearly aspect, living in the body of the small red worm, Na'is
littoralis^ of our river banks, and constitutes another example.
These few notes will, I hope, show what peculiar interest attaches to
this numerous and curiously diffused tribe of beings, and it is with
much impatience that I await the forthcoming work of a truly able ob-
server, Dr. T. Spencer Cobbold, upon this class of animals. Pouchet
in his Heterogtnie energetically denies their wonderful migrations.

206 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

A worm wliicli has attracted considerable atten-
tion lately, and by rearing of wliicli large sums
bave been realized in France,, is tbe leecb {Hirudo
TnGdidnalis, L.)

Leeclies are remarkable for tlieir peculiar tri-
angular moutbj wbich is provided with a hp, and
their ten eyes. At the other extremity of their
worm-shaped and extensible body is seen a kind of
sucker, by which they adhere firmly to objects
under water, whilst their head moves about in all
directions. In many species two rows of pores are
observed underneath the body; these pores are the
orifices of so many small pouches, which constitute
the anima?s breathing apparatus.

The medicinal leech (jH". medicinalis, L.), used for
bleeding, is generally of a blackish colour, striped
with 3'ellow lines above and spotted yellow stripes
beneath. It is found in all the still fresh-waters of
Oriental Europe. The horse leech (K. sanguisuga,
L.) is much larger, and of a greenish-black colour.
It is common in our fresh stagnant waters.

The former species, H. medicinalis, has alone
been submitted to special culture. In the countries
where it is bred, it is reared in marshes specially
adapted to that purpose ; and until very recently
its nourishment was derived from old worn-out
horses, which, instead of being left to graze away
in peace the last days of the weary life which they

WORMS. 207

are forced to lead for man's comfort, were driven
into tlie leecli-ponds, to be fed upon by these
noxious worms ! Siich, 0 readers ! is the dis-
gusting practice tbat lias been followed in France
for many years. TMs unwonted and unequalled
cruelty constitutes a lasting disgrace to tbe Govern-
ment which, sanctions it. Very recently, however,
the scientific men who form at the present time the
most honourable portion of French society, and the
most enlightened portion of its Senate, have begun
to look with abhorrence at this frightful cruelty,
and are endeavouring to prevent it. The Societe
Protedrice des Animaux, a most worthy institution,
established in Paris, has awarded its silver medal to
M. Borne, of Clairefontaine, and its bronze medal
to Messrs. Harreaux, Sauve, and Laigniez, for
having abandoned this barbarous method of feeding
leeches upon the blood of living horses, and for
having constructed new marshes or leech-ponds,
where the worms are fed with blood and other
animal matters taken from the slaughter-houses.

For some years past, Messrs. Gruenisseau and
Fermond have been occupied with the culture of
the leech; and M. Auguste Jourdier has recently
published an interesting httle work, entitled ^' Sur
FHirudiculture,''^* in which he treats of the rearing
and artificial breeding of H. medicinalis.

* One vol. in 8vo, Paris, 1856.

208 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

To give some idea to what extent the breeding
of tMs worm is practised in France^ I may state
here that a single leech-swam]^ in La Grironde yields,
on an average, a return dividend oi fifteen i^er cent. !
Not long ago a similar marsh in the same district,
and about 120 acres in dimension, sold for £10,000
sterling ! I learn, moreover, from very reliable
sources, that considerable fortunes have been reahzed
in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux by breeding
leeches.

But the day cannot be far off when all these
leech-ponds will be dried up, and when the old
barbarous practice of bleeding with leeches will be
banished from a more enlightened medical gene-
ration. Then, indeed, will the useless cruelty of the
leech-ponds vanish for ever, and no more old women
or children shall be bled to death.

Some persons have attempted to convert the
common leech into a barometer (Fig. 25). Among

Fig. 25. — Leech barometer.

other cui'ious habits it has been observed, that on
the approach of a tempest the animal ceases to be

WORMS. 209

languid^ moves about witli a degree of activity " in
proportion to tlie violence of tlie storm to come/^
and endeavours to escape by climbing up tbe sides
of tlie glass jar in whicli it is confined. It is
asserted that in tliis respect the leecb. is a dangerous
rival to tlie little green frog, which is sold for a
similar purpose on the Continent. A few of these
frogs are placed at the bottom of a large glass vase
containing moss, and half filled with water ; a small
wooden ladder reposes on the moss, and reaches to
the top of the vase. When the weather is going
to be calm, the frogs mount the ladder, and come
and croak at the sm^face of the water ; but when it
is going to be stormy, they descend to the bottom,
and bury themselves in the moss. But, for my
own part, I do not place much reliance upon the
indications of such-like barometers, and would
ad\'ise my readers to adhere to that invented by
Torricelli.

Since the aquarium has become a drawing-room
ornament, or a living cabinet of natural history to
the lovers of science, many species of worms,
hitherto disregarded by the public at large, are
fetching somewhat large sums in the market.
Such, for instance, are certain Serpula, the beautiful
organisms belonging to the genera Sahella, Tere-
hellaj Spio, Sahularia, etc., of which some of the

p

210 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

rarer species sell at very high prices. These worms,
by tlieir curious tubes or habitations^ their gold-
like branchiae or gills, their curious habits, etc., are
indeed objects most worthy of attention.

Polypes,

G-eneral remarks on (Polypes — Their Org-anization
and (Polypidom — -JTaturalists who have written upon
(polypes — Hydra fusoa and H. viridis — I^eproduc-
tion of (Polypes — (Polypes for the Jlqxbarium — Goral-
lium nohilis, and g-eneral observations on Coral — Its
(Polypidom — (Practical details concerning- Coral —
Corallioultibre — Coral Fishery — Uses of Coral — Isis
hippuris, or ^Articulated Coral — Tuhipora musica —
The genus Jdadrepora — I^eefs and Coral Islands —
Formation of I^eefs — Jdadrepora muricata — Its
Chemical Composition — Sow it derives its Liine —
Its uses.

POLYPES.

ETWEEN the class of Worms and tliat of
Polypes there exists many gTOups of in-
'^^'^ ferior animals wliiclij hitherto^ have not
'i^ been employed by man ; snch, for instance,
are the Medusce (Sea-blubbers and Sea-
nettles) _, and the different varieties of Star-fish
{Asteria, OpMura, etc.) Many of these are men-
tioned in my work on Phosphorescence,, as most of
them evince the faculty of becoming luminous in
the dark. Some of these animals have been used as
manure on the sea-coast, but with httle or no effect.
Among the Echinodermata (Star-fish, Ophiura, etc.)
there is, however, an animal, Holothuria ^7'iapus, or
sea-slug, which for years has been exported in large
quantities from several of the Malay Islands to China,
Cochin China, etc. Hundreds of junks or canoes
are paddled along the shallow beaches on the coasts
of the East India islands, and filled with these soft
gelatinous beings. The Holothuria are purged of
impurities by having quick lime thrown over them.

214 tlTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

dried in tlie surij and packed in baskets, whicli sell
at a kigli price among the Asiatics. Long before
Polypes should likewise be placed the class of
BotifercB, or wheel-animalcules ; but, on account of
their microscopic forms, the little I have to say
upon them will be found in the chapter oulnfusona.
The same remark will apply to some other micro-
scopic beings.

Polypes comprise a numerous series of animals
that have been classed in the genera: Coraliumj
Isis, Madrepora, Garyopliylleaj Oculium, Focilloporaj
Astrea, Porita, Meandrina, Tuhipora, 8ertularia,
Actinia, Hydra, and a few others. They are wonder-
fully numerous. Nearly one -seventh part of the
actual crust of our globe is composed of the remains
of animals, and polypes contribute largely towards
this fraction of our present world. Several species
are valuable to us in different manners.

The body of a polype appears most simple in its
organization ; it consists of a little gelatinous sack
or bag, the opening of which is surrounded by ten-
tacles. Some species Hve separately, floating about
singly in the water, or fixed one by one to the
rocks. Others Hve in large companies, and secrete
a curious habitation or basis, called a polypidom.
They have been therefore divided into two groups,
namely : Naked polypes, such as the Sea Anemones
and the Hydra of our fresh-water ditches and

POLYPES. 215

ponds; and Coralligenous polypes — those whicli
produce a polypi dom — such as the Coral, the Madre-
jpora, etc. The class was formerly much larger than
it is now^ and extended from Aristotle^s polype —
which is no other than the cuttle-fish. Sepia odo-
jpoda {S. officinalis) — to Infusoria^ including animals
which difier essentially in e\rery respect. The habi-
tation of Coralligenous polypes — the polypidom —
was looked upon by the ancients as a growing
stone or a stony plant (LithopJiyte). The first ob-
server who hinted at their animal nature appears to
have been Imperati_, and his observations, published
in 1699, were confirmed by Peyssonel in 1727, and
by Trembley about the year 1 740, whilst engaged
in his wonderful experiments upon Hydra viridis
and H.fusca of our stagnant waters.

ElUs, Marsigli, Baster, Donati, Boccone, De
Geer, Eeaumur, De Jussieu, and Cavolini have
added considerably to the interesting history of
polypes. Linnaeus called them animal plants {Zoo-
phytes), and this celebrated naturalist classed the
greater number of species, thus laying the ground-
work for the later researches of Pallas, Bruguieres,
and Lamarck.

To Cavolini, Ehrenberg, and Savigny we owe
much of our knowledge concerning the organization
of corals; and for the description of the geogra-
phical distribution of islands, and other geological

216 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

formations occasioned by these animalcules^ we are
indebted to the labours of R. and G. Forster_, Cha-
misso (author of the '^ Marvellous History of Peter
Schlemyll")^ Peron_, Quoy and Guemard, Captain
FlinderSj Lutke,, Beechy_, Darwin^ D'Uryille,, and
Lotin.

Alex, von Humboldt has sketched, in a charming
manner, their influence upon the constitution of the
earth^s crust, in his ^'' Yiews of Nature/^ vol. ii.

Hydra fiisca, the olive- coloured polype of our
ponds and ditches, may be taken as the type of this
class of animals. This little being was first de-
scribed by Trembley in 1744, but it had been pre-
viously discovered by Leuwenhoek in 1703. No
attention was paid to it, however, till the publica-
tion of Trembley^s paper, which produced great
sensation, everyone's attention was drawn to the
subject, and it became the principal topic of the
day. It was given away in presents as an object of
great rarity ; specimens of it were sent from abroad
by post, and even ambassadors made it a matter of
engrossing interest in their relations to the foreign
courts.

If a little duck-weed [Lemna) be put into a
bottle of water with a "vvide orifice, and the bottle
be placed upon a table, and allowed to remain per-
fectly still for some hours, the Hydra contained in
the stagnant water will all come to that side of the

POLYPES. 217

bottle upon whicli tlie liglit falls, and will be seen
floating about in tbat quarter of the flask, or
adhering to that portion which is turned towards
the window of the apartment. With a magnifying-
glass it is easy to recognize Hydra fuscaj which is
brown or ohve coloured, and H. viridiSf which is
green. Sometimes a reddish-brown variety {3.
rubra) will be also seen. The little creatures
appear like very small floating sacks, having four
arms or tentacles spreading out from the orifice of
the sack. If these animals be cut into several
pieces with a scissors, each piece becomes a new
hydra; if one of them be turned inside out like a
glove, it lives so, the external part, which is now
the interior, carries on the process of digestion as
if it had always been inside.

Polypes are reproduced by ^' budding,^^ by spon-
taneous division, or by eggs. In the first process
one or more buds form around the mouth (orifice of
the sack), or on some other part of the animals body.
This bu^, which at first appears as a little globule,
gradually developes itself into a complete pol^'pe,
and drops ofi". This process of reproduction is ex-
tremely rapid; a single day often suffices for several
successive generations to make their appearance.
Thus, a child polype born by budding at six o^clock
in the morning, will, in many cases, be a gTand-
father by six in the afternoon. But this rapid sue-

218 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

cession of birtlis is only observed in all its grandeur .
under tlie Tropics. It has been remarked, also,
tbat tlie larger species of polypes produce fewer
young.

The Hydra that live in the ditches and stagnant
ponds around London, Paris, etc., die in the winter;
but before this their body is replete with eggs or
buds, which are dispersed in the water in the form
of minute granular bodies, to become new polypes
the ensuing spring. These fresh-water polypes are
interestiug objects of study for the fresh- water
aquarium, and as they are of a certain size, they can
be easily observed by means of a common lens or
magnifying-glass. It is curious to see them seize
in their tentacles small worms, insects, etc., and
carry them into their semi-transparent gelatinous
body.

The same may be said of the Flustra, which
belong to the higher class of Bryozoa, and form inte-
resting specimens for the salt-water aquarium. Many
varieties of them are found on the sea-weeds, shells,
rocks, etc., which they cover with a minute network
of cells. Each cell contains a polype-hke animal,
and there are in some species many hundred cells
in one square inch of this network. Again, the
Sertularia and the beautiful Camjjanularia, or bell-
shaped pol}^es, are sought for to decorate the
aquarium ; whilst Sea Anemones, on account of the

Fig. 26.

1. Corallium nobilis (Red coral).

2. Polype magnified.

POLYPES. 221

comparative ease witli wliicli they are reared, form
frequent and interesting objects of study in the
same miniature ocean.

Polypes have numerous enemies in the shape of
worms, Crustacea, fish, water insects, etc. They
also devour each other when opportunity offers,
but it has been observed that polypes of the same
species cannot digest each other.

They appear to Hve principally upon animal sub-
stances, such as small worms, infusoria, and the
hke, with which the waters they inhabit generally
abound. Certain sea anemones have been seen to
devour small fish; in the aquarium they are fed
with small pieces of raw beef.

Some polypes remain for ever attached to their
cells, and cannot be drawn from their polypidom
without being killed. Others appear capable of
leaving their habitation, to wander about and con-
struct another polypidom at some distance from the
old one ; but this fact has not been sufficiently
proved.

The most important polype, in a commercial
point of view, is the Coral [Gov allium nohilis, L.
Fig. 26) ; the bright red substance of its polypidom
has rendered it valuable as an article of trade.
After pearls, coral is considered the most precious
production of the ocean, and on the coasts of the
Mediterranean it has for ages been the object of an

222 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

extensive traffic. In nature its stem_, or tlie axis of
its polypidonij is calcareous, solid, and striated; it
is covered by a gelatinous porous envelope, in which
the coral polypes are seen implanted.

Donati has thrown much light upon the orga-
nization of the coral stem, and the anatomy of the
gelatinous tunic which covers it, and places each of
its polypes, as it were, in connection one with the
other. It will be sufficient here to state that the
coral polypes produce the calcareous portion of
their polypidom, and also secrete this gelatinous
covering, which is of a very complicated nature.
The latter, when the coral is freshly taken from the
water, is easily peeled off; but if allowed to dry on
the stem, it becomes very difficult to detach it.
This cortex, or covering, presents numerous tuber-
cles or httle eminences, each of which contains in
its cavity a white, soft, transparent polype, having
eight tentacles. As soon as the coral is withdrawn
from the water, each polype immediately contracts
itself, and withdi-aws into its cavity.

The external portion of the solid coral stem is
generally much less compact than the interior.
When calcined, it loses its organic matter and its
colour, and is then seen to be composed of concentric
layers. SilHman, jun., has analyzed this substance ;
he finds that it is composed of carbonate of lime,
containing three to five per cent, of organic matter.

POLYPES* 223

and very small quantities of silica^ fluoride of cal-
cium, fluoride of magnesium, phosphate of lime,
alumina, and oxide of iron. The red colour I
believe to be entirely organic, though nothing is
yet known concerning it ; and though coral is gene-
rally of a fine red colour, it is sometimes found of a
rose tint, or even quite yellow. There is also a black
variety, which is very rare. Its gelatinous tunic
also varies in colour.

The calcareous stem of these animals is formed
like the shell of the oyster and other mollusca,
•i.e., by the secretion of a liquid containing a large
amount of lime, and which appears to be produced
by certain glands situated at the basis of the
polypous tentacles.

In the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, coral is
seen adhering to the rocks in all directions. The
greatest height that a stem of coral, with its
branches, will attain in the Mediterranean is about
a foot and a half, its greatest diameter being about
eight lines.

At each extremity of the coast of Algiers very
fine coral is found. The annual production by coral
fisheries in these parts is estimated at about
£100,000 sterling. But the French are complain-
ing, at the present moment, of the negligent
manner in which their Mediterranean coral pro-
duction is carried on. It should yield, according to

224 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

competent autlioritieSj a nett lorofit of £250^000
sterling 2^ er annum.^

Spallanzani^s observations have tauglit us tliat
coral gi'ows very rapidly, and is quickly reproduced ;
so that in a few years^ time a locality wMcli lias
been deprived of its coral by repeated fisheries is
again repeopled with this lucrative polype.

It lias also been remarked that a brancb of
coral, detached from the stem and thrown into the
sea, soon fixes itself to the rocks, and grows into a
fine specimen; and it has not unfrequently been
noticed that difi'erent objects which have been
thrown into the sea near any clusters of coral, are
sure to be covered with these polypes in the course
of a few months.

These important facts seem to indicate the pos-
sibility of transporting or transplanting the coral
by -shoots, as we do with some of our rarer vege-
table productions. They teach us, also, that the
coral fishers ought to be compelled by law to throw
back into the sea the younger branches of whatever
coral they take away ; for these young shoots are
nearly valueless to them, and would serve to re-
plenish in a short time places exhausted of their
coral by constant fishing.

Like other polypes, the coral pol}^3e is repro-

* Compare the "Bulletin de la Societe d'Acclimatation,"
Paris, 1856.

POLYPES. 225

duced by eggs, by buds, and by self-division. It
multiplies rapidly, and its stem will go on rami-
fying, like tlie stem of a tree, for an indefinite
period of time.

All tliese data sliould be borne in mind by those
wbo would undertake to cultivate coral, a brancli of
industry wkicli kas lately been seriously tkougkt of,
and to wkick tke Frenck kave already given tke
name of CorallicuUure. And if it be impossible to
grow coral upon our Englisk coasts, tkere are spread
over tke globe kundreds of Eugksk possessions
wkere Coralliculture migkt become an unexpected
source of wealtk.

For ages past coral kas been tke object of an
extensive and valuable industry ; it constitutes an
important feature in tke commerce of Marseilles,
Genoa, Catalogna, Corsica, Sicily, and otker Medi-
terranean islands. Tke coasts of Sicily, tke Adri-
atic, and tke coast of Tunis, are classed among tke
places wkere tke most active operations of tkis
kind are carried on. Regular coral fiskeries are
establisked in tke Straits of Messina, on tke skores
of Majorca and Ivica, tke coasts of Provence, of
Algiers, etc. Abundant supplies are obtained from
tke Red Sea, tke Persian Gulf, tke coast of
Sumatra, and otker locakties.

Sicilian coral is muck prized, and kas been
known to value as muck as ten guineas per ounce.

Q

226

UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

The price^ ]iowever_, is exceedingly variable, ac-
cording to quality, other portions of tlie same mass
selling for less tlian a shilling a pound.

Coral fishery takes place during the three hottest
months of the year ; the only instrument that the
fishers employ is the salabre, a kind of dredge,
consisting of two strong sticks crossed one over the
other. To the centre of the cross is a long rope,
and underneath it a bullet or stone. At the four
extremities of the sticks, which are covered with
tow (hemp), is a net shaped like a purse (Fig. 27).

Fig. 27.— Coral Net.
a a. Beams of v^u .d, 15 feet long, covered with tow.

h b. Coarse nets.

This instrument is dragged over the rocks from
which the coral springs, and the latter broken off
by the dredge, its branches become entangled in
the tow, and are secured by the net. But by this

POLYPES. 227

clumsy apparatus^ as our readers will easily con-
ceive, a great quantity of coral would be lost, were
it not sought for immediately afterwards by divers,
winch, is generally the case. This fishing or
dredging generally takes place at a depth varying
from sixty to eighty feet, but coral is sometimes
dredged for and taken at upwards of one hundred
feet below the surface of the sea.

In Europe, particularly at Marseilles, coral is
manufactured into a great variety of ornaments ; it
is also largely dealt with in the East, in India and
Africa, where it is employed to ornament weapons,
for jewels, chaplets, etc. When the Arabs bury any
of their relatives, they always place in the dead
person^ s hand a chaplet of coral.

In Europe coral used also to be employed in
medicine, but it has been found that a little lime-
stone serves the same purpose. It is extensively
used for jewellery, and is also made into tooth-
powder.

In 1852, the quantity of red coral imported from
Italy to Liverpool amounted to 120 lbs. ; in 1854,
146 lbs. arrived.

There exist four species of coral-hke animals
belonging to the genus Isis (which has been sepa-
rated from that of Gorallium) , one of which, Isis
hipjouris, know as Ai'ticulated coral, is abundant in
many seas. Its polypidom is composed of calca-

228 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

reous joints united to and alternating witli liorny
ones^ wliicli gives to tlie species in question an
aspect similar to that of tlie plants called Equisetum
(horse-tail). Isis Mppuris is sought for and prized
as a curiosity^ though the species is not rare.

The polypes of the genus Tuiiipora are ex-
tremely remarkable^ and much prized as curiosities.
Their polypidom is composed of a series of bright
red calcareous tubes or prismatic cylinders. They
form large round tufts^ and often considerable
masses in the warmer seas. Peron found that the
polypes that inhabit these tubes have green tenta-
cles_, so that large agglomerations of these species
appear like tufts of grass or gi'een fields in the
ocean.

The species Tujnjyora rausica is the most
common ; its polypidom is of a fine red colour ; it
has been termed T. miisica because the cyhnders of
this 23olypidom call to mind the tubes of an organ.
It is found abundantly in the Indian Ocean and
American seas. Formerly it was employed as a
medicine_, but now is only sold as a cabinet orna-
ment or a curiosity.

It would be interesting to cultivate the latter
two^ and several other allied species, in a warm
salt-water aquarium. Such an aquarium might be
easily established in the warm greenhouse of Kew
and other botanic gardens, and it should contain

POLYPES. 229

some of tlie rarer marine Algce along witli tliese
magnificent polypes.

It is to tlie genus Madre^ora tliat most of the
so-called " coral-reefs" are owed. Every one knows
how dangerous these reefs prove to navigators^ and
what an extensive part they play in the consti-
tution of the earth^s crust. Their colours are almost
invariably white or yellowish- white ; but there are
some which are completely yellow, red, or brown.
These MadrejJora are extremely common in nature,
and abound near the islands of the South Sea, of
the Indian Sea, and especially near the Antilles.
Captain Cook tells us ^' that he could not sail
through certain straits which he had passed with
ease a few years previously, on account of the pro-
digious and rapid multiplication of these coral-
reefs." There is a barrier reef of madrepores that
runs along the whole of the eastern coast of
Australia. Captain Flinders endeavoured for four-
teen days to pass through it, and he found that he
had sailed more than five hundred miles before he
accomplished his purpose. Throughout the whole
range of Polynesian and Austrahan islands, there is
hardly a league of sea unoccupied by a " coral-reef"
or a '^ coral-island."

These reefs develop themselves in proximity to
the shores of continents and islands, or upon the
summits of submarine volcanic rocks. The latter

230 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

circum stance explains tlie frequency of tlieir crater-
like forms (Fig. 28). Dalrymple says lie has seen

Fig. 28. — Circular Coral Island, recently formed in the Pacific Ocean, priu-
cipally composed of the species Madrepora muricata, and shutting in a
portion of the ocean as a lake.

madrepore banks in all tlieir stages — some in deep
water_, others with a few portions above the sm:*face ;
some just formed into islands without the slightest
vestige of vegetation ; others with a few weeds on
their highest point j and_, lastly^ such as are covered
with trees of many years^ growth^ ^' with a bottom-
less sea at a pistol-shot distance.''^

As soon as the edge of a reef is high enough to
lay hold of the floating sea-weed_, to retain the
seeds of plants brought by the winds and cuiTcnts^
or for a bird to perch upon, the ^^ coral-island^^
may be said to commence its existence. The ex-
creta of birds, wrecks of all kinds, feathers, cocoa-
nuts floating with the young plant out of the shell,
various grains, and sea-weeds, are the first elements
of the new island.

POLYPES. 231

With islands thus formed, and others in the
several stages of their formation, Torres Strait is
nearly choked up. The time will come — it may be
ten thousand or ten million years, but come it
must — when JSTew Holland and New Guinea, and all
the little groups of islets and reefs to the north and
north-west of them, will either be united in one
great continent, or be separated only by deep chan-
nels, in which the strength or velocity of the
currents may perhaps obstruct the silent and un-
observed agency of these insignificant, but most
efficacious labourers.

Fig. 29.— Fragment of Madrepora muricata.

Madrepora muricata, L. (Fig. 29), is the species
which contributes most largely to the formation of
reefs ; it is often sold for ornaments, particularly in

232 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

France^ where it is called Gome de Dame, or CJiar
de Neptune. There are some splendid specimens of
this and its allied species in the British Museum.
Immense masses of its beautiful and wonderful
structure are employed to manufacture lime for
building and manure. The inhabitants of the
Polynesian and Australian islands burn it to pro-
duce the hme with which they chew their betel^ and
scour the Holothuria which they collect for the
Chinese, etc._, as we have abeady seen. The lime
thus produced is very much superior to any that can
be obtained from lime stone, however pure. When
employed as manure, it would be better to crush it
without burning it, as it would thus retain its animal
matter ; but some varieties are so hard, that the
crushing can only be effected with very powerful
machines. Madrepora and other closely- allied po-
l}^es — such as Forita, Astrcea, Meandrinaj Ganjo-
pliyllea (Fig. 30) — contain from 90 to 95 per cent,
of carbonate of lime, with a little carbonate of
magnesia ; they also contain a very small quantity
of fluoride of calcium and phosphate of hme, which
latter, small as the quantity is, renders them still
more valuable for agricultural purposes.

An analysis which I made of Madrepora muri-
cata, in 1859, gave me 5 per cent, of organic
matter, 0-4 of silica, 92-27 of carbonate of lime,
0'69 of carbonate of magnesia, 0*65 of phosphate

POLYPES. 233

of lime, oxides of iron and alumina, 0*99 of sulphate
of lime, and traces of fluoride of calcium.

All these salts are extracted, by the polypidom-
making polypes, from the water of the sea. If we

Fig. 30.— Caryophyiiea lastigiata.

analyse the water of the ocean near ^' coral-reefs/^
we find a considerable deficiency of lime. Thus,
Dr. Forchhammer, in an interesting paper, has lately
shown that where madrepore polypes abound, the
salts furnished by the sea only contain 2 per cent,
of lime. But, on the other hand, these polypes can
never extract the luhole of the lime from the sea-
water, as this author and others appear to think,
for Nature has established here one of her beautiful
rotations : as the little polypes extract lime from
the water to form the new portions of their poly-
pidom, the water, by means of the carbonic acid it

234 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

contains^ and with wliicli it is supplied in great
measure by the polypes themselves,, dissolves the
more ancient portions of their calcareous structure,
thus keeping a constant supply of carbonate of hme
at their disposal in the water.

In the South Sea Islands^ the madrepore struc-
tures are occasionally employed as building stone ;
they are known as coral-roch.

Madrepora was formerly imported into this
country for medicinal pui^poses^ under the name of
white coral. It is capable of receiving very fine
pohsh^ and can then be made, as coral, into orna-
ments of every description.*

* For many extremely interesting and novel details concerning
fresh-Tvater polypes, bryozoa and infusoria, see Henry J. Slack's in-
genious little work entitled " Marvels of Pond Life."

PI IIP M,

Infusoria and other Animalculse.

JdicrosGopia Jirbimals loseful to Jdan, — Universal distri-
bution of Infusoria — (2)ri/ Fogs—jluthors zuho have
studied Infusoria — (Philosophioal considerations con-
cerning- them — 9^he J\donads, I^otifera, Vibrio —
Ilhizopoda — Jdonas orepusoulum, the most minute
of living- beings — (X)eposit in which the ^transatlantic
Cable lies — transition of Colour in Lakes — Fossil,
Infusoria — '^Jdountain Jdeal '' — Its Chemical Com-
position— Enormous quantities of it consumed, as Food
— G-eographical distribution of Infusorial deposits —
9^he 9^ovun of I^ichmond, in Virginia — ^erlin — 9Jie
(Polishing Schist of ^ilin, in (Prussia — 1,750,000,000
beings to the square inch — Tripoli, its uses and
composition — G-eographical and Greologioal distt^i-
bution of Infusoria, Foraminifera, and (X)iatomacec3-
— Soluble Glass obtained fj^om Infusorial (2)eposits —
Uses of Soluble Glass — Other applications of Infu-
sorial Earth — Chalk, its uses and geological origin —
The J<fummuliie Limestone — (Paris mostly built of
Jlnimalculce — Otlzer details — Time.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE.

E pass on now to examine another exten-
sive group of animals, still more wonder-
ful, and perhaps more interesting, than any
wMcli precede. Here, under tlie highest
magnifying power of the microscope, we
find animals useful to man — ^here, amidst the mil-
lions of invisible atoms which nature has so abun-
dantly scattered over the globe, we find delicate
and wonderful organisms, supplying us with food,
with pure water, with glass, with colours, and last,
not least, with an inexhaustible field of scientific
inquiry. Look where we will, we find them every-
where— in our bodies, in our aUments, in our drinks,
in our preserves, in the water in which we bathe,
on our walls, on our glazed paper, on our visiting
cards, on our flowers, in the soil of our gardens, in
the woods and forests, in our meadows and their
trenches, in our ditches, ponds, lakes, rivers, seas,
and oceans, in the oldest sedimentary strata of the
earth, in the most recent strata, on the mountain

238 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

tops, in tlie snow and in tlie ice_, and sometimes in
tlie air we breathe.

Ehrenberg found a few species of Infusoria in
tlie subterranean water of mines; lie met with
several in some silver mines in Russia, at the depth
of fifty- six fathoms below the surface ; but he never
detected them in atmospheric water, such as dew-
drops.* The same author discovered that the
yellow dry fog which has been observed from time
to time advancing from the Cape Yerd Islands
towards the east, covering parts of North Africa,
Italy, and Central Europe, is composed of hosts of
silicious animalculee, carried away by the trade -
winds. This peculiar meteor has been often attri-
buted to the tails of comets which have passed near
the earth^s orbit. f Similar animalculae have been
found in fixed or floating icebergs at 12° lat. from
the North Pole, while numerous forms of the same
group are seen in hot mineral springs.

The invention of the microscope by Hans Jan-

* This observation, made many years ago, agi'ees admirably
with the resuhs of numerous researches lately made by Pouchet
of Kouen, who discovered no infusoria in snow that had recently
fallen, nor in the atmosphere. It has been held that the air
abounds with eggs of infusoria and seeds of microscopic plants ;
but Pouchet denies this, upon the strength of many experiments
made in various parts of Europe.

t See Humboldt's " Views of Nature," tome ii. ; also Kaemtz's
"Meteorology," and my work on "Phosphorescence," pp. 55-57,
regarding the nature of dry fogs.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCUL.E. 239

sen and liis son Zacharias Jansen of Middleburg,
revealed to us tlie existence of myriads of living
creatures, of whose presence in nature we had not
before the slightest suspicion ; and observation has
disclosed a number of organic creations comparable
only to that of the stars revealed by the teles-
cope. When Linnseus arranged all the organized
beings known to him in his '' Systema Naturae/^
the structure of infusoria and other animalcul^e was
not sufficiently known to enable him to distribute
them properly. He therefore placed them at the
end of his last class,, Vermes, in a genus which he
denominated Chaos.

Othon Frederic Miiller first distinguished them
as a distinct order, and finding they were so quickly
produced in infusions of vegetable substances,
called them Infusoria. Miiller's work was pubhshed
in 1773-4. He described many species. But
Needham had already pubhshed (1 745) his " New
Microscopical Discoveries.''''

These minute organisms have also been investi-
gated by Leuwenhoek, Lamarck, Cuvier, Bory de
St. Vincent, Hill, Hooke, Adams, Baker, Spal-
lanzani, Ehrenberg, Mantell, Pritchard, Morren,
Pouchet, etc.

Ehrenberg studied their internal structure by
feeding them on colouring matters, such as indigo,
and carmine.

240 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

If a few flower stalks or a handful of green
leaves be placed in a glass of water_, and allowed to
remain tliere from two to four days exposed to tlie
air and to tlie lights at tlie end of tliat time the
water will have assumed a green or brownish-green
colour_, and on being submitted to examination
under the microscope, will be found to swarm with
many descriptions of infusoria. How they come
there is still a subject of discussion among many of
the first men of the day. Some say their eggs or
^' buds^^ are constantly present in the air, driven
about everywhere by the wind, and develop them-
selves whenever they happen to fall upon an appro-
priate medium, such as putrefying vegetable sub-
stance, etc. Others say that no such eggs are
present in the air, but that they form spontaneously
in water containing vegetable matter, as the eggs
of other animals form in the womb.*

Lamarck, Oken, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Bory de
St. Vincent, Darwin, and other distinguished natu-
ralists, look upon certain infusoria (Monades) as the
fundamental organic substance from which all higher
organisms have been progressively developed. Na-
ture created Monades^ the most simple form of
infusoria, from the gradual perfection of which,
through myriads of centuries and amidst all kinds
of physical changes, all the higher classes of animals

* Poucliet " Sur I'llcterogenie," Paris, 1859, 1 vol. in 8vo.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULiE. 2-41

have been produced.* I myself have shown recently
how mineral matter can be converted by chemical
means into organic matter^ and how this organic
matter_, in the origin_, must have been converted
into organized cells. f

" In vain/^ says Bory de St. Vincent^ and his
words coincide remarkably with our modern re-
searches, '' in vain has matter been considered as
eminently hrute [without life] . Many observations
prove that if it is not all active by its very nature,
a part of it is essentially so, and the presence of
this, operating according to certain laws, is able to
produce life in an agglomeration of the molecules ;
and since these laws will always be imperfectly
known, it will at least be rash to maintain that an
infinite intelligence did not impose them, since they
are manifested by their results.^^

But we must quit these philosophical considera-
tions, as our work is purely of a practical nature.
Let us see then, first, what Lifusorla are, and how
they are useful to man.

The most simple and commonest form of in-
fusorial life is the Monad. This animalcule, of
which there are several kinds, consists of a fine
pellucid membrane ; it forms a very minute sphere

* Darwin " On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection,"
London, 1860.

t Phipson *' Protoctista," etc., in the " Journ. de Medicine,"
Bruxelles, Dec. 1861.

K

242 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

or cell, having a few green or coloured spots in its
interior. Tliese curious beings are very small; I
never measured any, but I find they require to be
magnified at least 640 times to be seen at all
distinctly. Some autliors say tliey vary from
l-24,000tli to 1 -500th of an inch in size, according
to the species. In the opinion of Humboldt, the true
monad never exceeds 1 -3000th of a hne in diameter.
He alludes probably to Monas crepuscidum, the
smallest species. One single drop of water may
contain about 500,000,000 monades, a greater
number than our earth contains of human in-
habitants.*

They efi'ect their locomotion by means of cilia,
fine hair-like processes which cover the whole sur-
face of the animalcule^s body, and which are con-
stantly vibrating, like those which are found on
several membranes of om^ own bodies. Such is the

* Even in Leuwenhoek's time the excessive number of animal-
culse in some waters was noticed with surprise ; but in his day the
microscopes were exeedingly defective. The eminent naturahsfc
Swammerdam, who published the results of his dissections in
1660, had to work with very imperfect glasses. Leuwenhoek, who
made known his curious and novel discoveries about 1677 (some
years before and after), laboured under the same disadvantages,
lie actually ground his own lenses, in which art he excelled the
best opticians of the day. Most of bis papers have been pubUshed
in the Enghsh " Philosophical Transactions." In a paper of his
published in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1677, we are
struck by the ingenious method he employed to calculate the
number of animalculaj present in a drop of water.

INFUSOEIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 243

type of Infusoria in general ; but there are other
more highly- organized forms in this vast family,
which recall sometimes the bell- shaped polypes, or
other animals of still more comphcated structure.
The Rotifera, or wheel-animalcules, which were until
lately classed with Infusoria, have been gradually ele-
vatedtothe class of Worms jSLndare now placed by some
zoologists near the tribe of mites (Acarus). They
belong, therefore, to the highest of inferior animals,
namely, to the class of Spiders. The Vibrio tritici,
an eel-like animalcule, which causes the '*" ear-
coclcle/' or the blight, in wheat, has been taken
from the class of Infusoria, and placed in that of
Helminthes or Entozoa (worms).

Some infusorial animalculse secrete themselves
a covering of hard flint {silica), resembling in
this respect the plants which belong to the family
of Equisetacce and the Gh'asses, the epidermis of
whose stems contains sometimes as much as 90 per
cent, of sihca.

The covering or outer tunic of Infusoria is,
then, of two kinds : the one soft and apparently
membranous, yielding to the slightest pressure ; the
other rigid and hard, having the appearance of a
shell, though, from its flexibility and transparent
nature, it is more like horn. The microscopic
beings belonging to the class of RMzojooda — a class
higher than Infusoria — present also the latter pe-

244 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

culiarity. This liard covering consists sometimes
of silica^ and sometimes of carbonate of lime. To
it we owe tlie preservation of the forms of Infusoria
and Foraminifera (Ehizopoda), which have lain for
centuries upon centuries in a fossil state in the
strata of the earth. It has been calculated that
eight million individuals of Monas crejmsculum can
exist within the space that would be occupied by a
single grain of mustard-seed_, the diameter of which
does not exceed the one-tenth of an inch.

Yet these myriads of little beings termed Infu'
soria have an important part to play in nature;
they help to keep the water they inhabit in a pure
state. They devour animal and vegetable matter
which otherwise would ferment, decompose_, and
render the water putrid and unwholesome for the
use of superior animals.

The flint- shelled infusoria, together with nume-
rous groups of lower beings [Biatomacece, Des-
midice, etc.) and the Foraminifera, form after death
considerable deposits at the bottom of the ocean —
deposits which increase every day. In such a
material lies the transatlantic telegraph cable, and
by the progressive accumulation of these minute
organisms deprived of life, and the gradual pre-
cipitation of carbonate of lime, clay, etc., from the
water of the sea, the now soft muddy deposit thus
formed will, in course of time, become a hard rock.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 245

It is our iiope to liave a telegraphic cable, uniting
us with the continent of America, imbedded one
day in such a rock, where it would he securely for
ages. (See Fig. 37.)

The rapid and mysterious transition of colour
which is observable in lakes, and which has often
created alarm in the minds of the superstitious,
has been attributed* to Infusoria. A lake of clear
transparent water will assume, for instance, a green
colour in the course of the day; it will become
turbid or mud-coloured about noon, when the sun
brings the Infusoria to the sui'face, rapidly develops
them, and where they die by millions before night.
Microscopic vegetables {Algce, etc.) may produce
similar effects. Similar phenomena are observed
in salt water ; hence, probably, the Eed Sea and
Yellow Sea derived their names. Certain Astaria
and Eucjlena ruber give to water a blood-red colour.
The same happens when microscopic Algoe, of a red
tint, found at certain seasons in the Red Sea, are
present. Euglena viridis, Crijptomonas glauca, Monas
hicolor, and other Infusoria, colour water intensely
green. A blue colour will be observed when con-
siderable quantities of Stentor ceruleiis are present,
and yellow with Astaria flavescens and Stentor aureus,
etc. Of these the green and red tints are the most
frequently seen in nature.

* By Pritchard &nd others.

246 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Agairij many Infusoria and Rhizo^oda play an
important part in the phospliorescence of tlie sea.
Tlie luminosity of the waves is entirely due to
them.

Ehrenberg has detected an immense number of
fossil Infusoria (Fig. 31). At first they were found
principally in certain siliceous deposits near Berlin,
but they were afterwards recognized in all parts of
the globe. Most of the species are so admii^ably
preserved, on account of their siliceous and im-
perishable envelope, that they can be, at the present
day, minutely investigated and classed.

These shell-like teguments of beings, invisible
to the naked eye, are found in large masses,
covering many miles of the earth^s surface.

They constitute masses of a delicate white
powder, known as Mountain meal [Berg-melil, Germ.;
Farine de montagne, French).

In Swedish Lapland, under a bed of decayed
moss, forty miles from Degesfors, in Umea Lap-
mark, is found an immense stratum of this sub-
stance. Chemical analysis shows it to be composed
of 22 per cent, of organic matter, 72 per cent, of
silica, 6 of alumina, and 0*15 of oxide of ii'on.*

In times of scarcity, this " mountain meal " is
mixed with flour, and manufactured into bread for
the poor. These fossil Infusoria do not constitute
* This analysis was executed by Dr. Trail.

Fig, 31.— Fossil Infusoria, as seen (highly magnified) in the Berg-mehl
a. Gomphonema. f. Euastrum.

h.b. Gallionella. g. Piunolaria.

c. Bacillaria. h. Pixidula.

d. Peridinum, i, Navicula.

e. Xanthidium.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULiE. 249

of themselves an aliment of sufficient nutriment to
sustain life ; but in CMna, where '^ mountain meal ^^
abounds in some districts^ the poorer classes can,
by its means^ subsist twice as long upon the same
supply of provisions as they could do were they not
to make use of it.

This farinaceous substance consists principally
of the remains of infusoria and microscopic vege-
tables. Under the microscope we recognize in it
Navicula viridis, GalUonella sulcata^ Gomijlwn&ina
gemmatum, and several other species.

Berzehus and Retzius affirm that, at the ex-
tremity of Sweden, the peasants are in the habit of
eating this infusorial earth to such an extent, that
every year many hundred cart-loads are extracted
by them from the strata in which it is found.
Some eat it from habit or taste, as we smoke
tobacco ; others from pure necessity.* Certain de-
posits of this kind serve for other purposes, as we
shall see presently.

In America, deposits of infusorial earth have
been discovered at West Point; then at Connec-
ticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine, in
which provinces no less than thirteen localities
have been found where this " mountain meal " exists.
Some of them have as much as fifteen feet in

* Compare with this Humboldt's " Yiews of JsTature," vol. i., on
the earth eaten by the Otomacs, etc.

250 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

thickness. Tliere are seven or eight similar deposits
in Mexico. All tliese deposits contain a certain
amount of vegetable remains. Indeed_, a similar
kind of earth, composed almost entirely of micro-
scopic plants (?) [Bioiomacece), underlies the town
of Eichmond_, in Yirginia, North America; and
the layer upon which this town is built has a
thickness of no less than twenty feet.

The guano deposits of Ichaboe_, and indeed all
other beds of this substance, abound in remains of
animalculee and inferior algse.

In some mud brought from the Levant, in 1844,
hundreds of sihceous shells of Infusoria, Diatomaceee,
etc., were discovered; and some earth recently
found near Newcastle, in England, was found to
be almost entirely composed of fossil Infusoria and
Bacillaria (minute organisms that some naturahsts
consider as plants, others as animals) .

Moreover, some specimens of siliceous rock, from
the Isle of France, were found by Ehrenberg to
consist principally of fossil Infusoria^ identical with
certain living species.

In some of the plains of Eastern Germany such
infusorial deposits are both common and exten-
sive. The town of Berlin is built ujDon one of
them, which measures about twenty-five yards
in thickness. But it is a curious fact that the
deposit which underhes the town of Berlin is

INPUSOKIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 251

composed of Infusoria and Diatomacece whicli are
still living, and propagate daily with astonisliing
rapidity. Tlieir existence is doubtless maintained
by the waters of the river Spree, situated on a
higher level, which filter into the deposit. It
is feared that a period will arrive when a part, at
least, of the town will fall in, on account of the
rapid development of these microscopic creatures,
more especially the Gallionella, which, according to
Ehrenberg, form, in the space of four days, no less
than two cubic feet of new movable earth.

The " pohshing slate'' of BiUn, in Prussia, which
is used for polishing metals, glass, marbles, etc.,
forms a series of strata fourteen feet thick. It is
entirely composed of the siliceous shells of Infusoria,
and Diatomaceoi., among which the most common
appear to be Gallionella distans and G. ferruginea.
One cubic inch of this pohshing earth has been
shown, by accurate measurement and calculation, to
contain 41,000,000 individuals of G. distans, and
1,750,000,000 individuals of G. ferruginea (Figs. 32
and 33). In the present state of physiological
science it is impossible to say whether these
wonderful organisms are plants or animals. They
furnish us with an admirable polishing material, for
which it would be difficult to find a substitute.*

* These and other fossil animalculae may be purchased in
London, from the different dealers in minerals, etc. Their structure
can only be discerned under a good microscope.

252 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

Under tlie name of Tripoli are included several
of these siliceous infusorial eartlis_, extensively em-

FiG. 32.— Gallionella ferniginea.
1. Magnified 300 times. 2. Magmlied 2000 times.

Fig. 33.— Gallionella distans.

ployed for polishing metallic smfaces^ etc. They
derive their name from Tripoh^ in Barbary^ whence
the substance was originally procured.*

Is it not an interesting fact that the remains of
creatm^es individually invisible to the naked eye,
should, in course of time, form rocks and strata
destined to figure among the economical apph-
cations of the human race ?

Since 1836, Ehrenberg has observed that the
organic forces are still so active in the mud of
ports and rivers, that at Swienemiinde, in the
Baltic, for instance, where more than two and a
half millions of cubic feet of mud were recently

* Some kinds of Tripoli are entirely mineral, but these are
generally known as 'Emery.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANiMALCULiE. 253

removed in one year, one-tliird of tliat entire mass
consisted of microscopic animals. The moors of
Limbm^g present accumulations of fossil Infusoria
twenty-eight feet in thickness. In the peaty layer
of Berlin, funnel-shaped deposits of Infusoria reach,
in some places, to the depth of sixty feet. There is
no doubt that they are still alive, and capable of
increase. Spontaneous motion may often be ob-
served in specimens taken from the greatest depth,
though less frequently than in those taken from the
surface.

The antiquarian, in bringing the microscope to
bear in his researches, and by the discovery of
these sihceous shells of Infusoria in various ancient
articles of pottery, and the remains of similar
species in the clay of the vicinity in which they
occur, has proved that these vases were made
upon the spot, and not imported from the higher
civilized nations of that day, as had been previously
supposed. In like manner thieves have been tracked
and robberies discovered by means of the fossil
Infusoria adhering to the boots of the suspected
persons, though the latter had travelled many miles
from the spot where the act was committed.

These fossil Infusoria and Diatomacege are found
to belong both to marine and fresh-water species ;
many of them are in every respect identical with
species still living. Their geographical distribution.

254 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

and tliat of tlie equally microscopic but mucli larger
Forariiinifera, is remarkable by its extent.

" Not only in tbe polar regions/^ says Ebren-
berg, ^' is there an uninterrupted development of
active microscope life^ where larger animals can no
longer exists but we find that the microscopic
animals collected in the Antarctic expedition of
Captain James Ross exhibit a remarkable abun-
dance of unknown and often most beautiful forms.
Even in the residuum obtained from the melting
ice swimming about in round fragments in
latitude 70' 10'_, there were found upwards of fifty
species of siliceous -shelled Polygastria and Goscino-
disccBj with their green ovaries, and therefore living,
and able to resist the extreme severity of the cold.
In the Grulf of Erebus^ sixty-eight siliceous- shelled
Polygastria and Phytolitharia, and only one species
of a calcareous- shelled Polytlialamia (Foraminifera),
were brought up by a lead sunk to a depth of from
1242 to 1620 feet/'

Dr. J. Hooker found siliceous Diatomacece^ in
countless numbers between the parallels of 60° and
80' south, where they gave a colour to the sea, and also
to the icebergs floating in it. The death of these
organisms in the South Arctic Ocean is producing

* The JDiatomacece are vegetables for some authors, animals for
others. See on this subject my paper entitled Protoctista, cited on
p. 241 of the present work.

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCtJLiE. 255

a submarine deposit, consisting entirely of the
siKceous particles of wliicli tlie skeletons of these
inferior beings are composed. This deposit is seen
on the shore of Victoria Land, and at the base of
the volcanic mountain Erebus.

Samples ot water taken up by Schager to the
south of the Cape of Good Hope in 57° lat., and
again under the tropics in the Atlantic, show that
the ocean, in its ordinary condition, and without
any apparent discoloration, contains numerous mi-
croscopic Hving organisms. Ehrenberg has shown
that the infusorial beings now Hving flourish at
heights of 10,000 feet on land, far above the snow
level, and at depths of 10,000, 12,000, and 16,000
feet in the sea. In his recent work, '' Mikro-
geologie," he has shown also that the most ancient
of the fossil Infusoria, whether belonging to the
Carboniferous or to the Silurian strata, belong to
the same genera, and often to the same species, as
those which actually exist at the present day.

'^'^The minute grains of greensand,^^ says this
author, ^^ which are characteristic of many rocks,
have a different nature from the gTcen earth often
met with in concretionary masses. The former,
from the Glauconie of the Paris Hmestone to the
Azoic lower Silurian greensand near Petersburg,
appear to consist of green opalescent casts of Poly-
thahunia, composed of a hydrosihcate of iron. The

256 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE.

cretaceous greensands of England contain^ unmis-
takeablvj tliese stony casts. In tlie Tertiary com-
pact^ limestone and nmnmulitic limestones, occur
beautifully preserved specimens of Quinqiielocidina,
Rotaliaj Textularia, Grammostoma, and AlscoUna.
In tlie lower Silurian greensand casts of detaclied
cells of Textulana and Nodosaria liave been
found.^^

In the lakes of Sweden titer e are vast layers of
iron oxide almost exclusively built up by animal-
cules. This kind of iron-stone is called lake-ore.
In winter the Swedish peasant, who has but little
to do in that season, makes holes in the ice of a
lake, and with a long pole brings up mud, etc.,
until he comes upon an iron bank. A kind of sieve
is then let down to extract the ore. One man can
raise in this manner about one ton per diem.

Besides the excellent pohshing material fur-
nished by these infusorial deposits, Liebig has
recently drawn attention to another application of
which they are susceptible. His observations were
made upon an infusorial deposit which constitutes
the under soil of the commons or plains of Liine-
bourg, in Germany (Fig. 34) ; and he has shown
that these microscopic remains, as well as those
taken from several other localities, can be very
easily converted into silicate of potash or silicate of
soda, sometimes known as " soluble glass.'^ It was

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULiE.

257

first ascertained by analysis that this infusorial
earth contained 87 per cent, of pure siHca. The
following method was then adopted to convert it
into sihcate of soda : — 148 lbs. of calcined carbonate
of soda are dissolved in five times their weight of
boihng water ; to this is added a milk of lime pre-

Vegetable earth.
-, ~>3'| Infusorial deposit.

Modern sands.

Tertiary formations.

Fig. 34.— Infusorial Deposit, Liinebourg, Germany.

pared with 84 lbs. of quicklime. After boiling the
mixture for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour^ the
alkahne liquid, which now contains caustic soda, is
decanted off from the insoluble carbonate of lime,
and evaporated in an iron vessel, until it has ac-
quired a specific gravity of 1*15. At this moment
240 lbs. of the infusorial earth is added. The latter
dissolves rapidly in the alkaline solution, and leaves
scarcely any residue. If by any accident a smaller

258 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

quantity of infusorial earth than that prescribed be
takeuj the soluble glass obtained is too alkaline and
very dehquescent.

Soluble glass^ first discovered by the ingenious
chemist,, Fuchs^ of Munich^ is an alkaline silicate of
potash or soda. It has been utilized in various
ways^ principally for protecting wood^ linen, the
scenery of theatres, panoramas, etc., from fire.
Tissues steeped in it lose their faculty of bm-ning
with flame ; if held in the fire they will consume
slowly and without flaming, so that any such tissue
being set on fire cannot communicate its combusti-
bility to other substances near, and in nine cases
out of ten it will not take fire at all.

These infusorial deposits, moreover, furnish
very good material for the manufactm^e of window-
glass, plate-glass, etc. ; besides which they make
an excellent mortar, and can be converted into
filters, into moulds for casting iron, brass, or other
metals. Add to this the use made of them as food
and their polishing quahty, and we shall see at a
glance how much the remains of these invisible
animalcules have been turned to account by man.

Chalk, also, which has innumerable uses — which
is employed, for instance, to prepare mortar, cement,
as a manure, as a pohshing material for silver and
gold, etc., for whitewashing, to prepare lime, etc.;
chalk also appears to owe its origin to the remains

Fig. 36.

Foraminifera of the mud in which the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable

lies (from nature, magnified 150 diameters).

INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 261

of myriads of animalculae, principally microscopic
Foraminifera (Figs. 35 and 36).

These animalculae, of wlticli numerous species
are stiU living, secrete a calcareous sliell or covering,

Fig. 35. — Foraminifera (magnified).
1. Eotalina, 2. Triloculina. 3. Sagrina.

similar to that of the siliceous infusoria. In spite
of their minuteness, these shells offer several par-
titions or joints, which render them extremely'
beautiful ; and as some of them resemble in minia-
ture the Nautilus shell, some naturahsts have been
tempted to class them among the Cephalopoda mol-
lusca, of which I have spoken; but very recent
investigations invite us to place them as alhes of
Lifusoria.

" These tiny shells,^^ says Beudant, speaking of
Foraminifera, "of which seven to eight hundred
fossil species are already known, are found accumu-
lated in immense masses in the terrestrial strata,
and constitute of themselves enormous stratifica-
tions, of which the white chalk, and some of the

262 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

tertiary limestones^ furnisli us with examples in
every part of tlie world /^

Traces more or less abundant of Foraminifera
are to be found in the calcareous rocks of nearly
every geological period ; but it is towards tbe end
of tbe secondary and at tbe commencement of tlie
tertiary period, tbat tlie development of this group
of fossils seems to bave attained its maximum.

^'' Altliougb tbere can be no reasonable doubt_,^'
says Dr. Carpenter_, '^tbat tbe formation of cbalk is
partly due to tbe disintegration of corals and larger
sbellsj yet it cannot be questioned tbat in many
locabties a very large proportion of its mass bas
been formed by tbe slow accumulation of foramini-
ferous shells.''^

But tbe calcareous bed of tbe tertiary fonna-
tions, known as Nummulite limestone (on account of
tbe enormous quantity of Nummubte sbells — -larger
Foraminifera — wbicb it contain s), is perbaps more
interesting still. This Nummulitic limestone can
be traced from tbe Pyrenees, tbrougb tbe Alps and
Appenines, into Asia Minor, and further, tbrougb
Northern Africa and Egypt, into Arabia, Persia,
and Northern India ; and thence, in all probabibtyj,
through Thibet and China to the Pacific, covering
very extensive areas, and attaining a thickness in
some places of many thousand feet. Another tract
of this remarkable strata is found in North America.

INFUSORIA AND OTHEE ANIMALCULiE. 263

A similar deposit occurs in tlie Paris tertiary basin,
and in tliat of Brussels ; and it is not a little re-
markable tliat the fine-grained and easily-worked
limestone, wliicli affords suck an excellent material
for tke decorated buildings of tke French capital, is
almost entirely formed of accumulated masses of
the minute shells of foraminiferous animalculas.
Even in this Nummulitic Hmestone, the matrix in
which the Nummulites are imbedded is itself com-
posed of the more minute Foraminifera, and of the
broken and cemented fragments of the larger
species.

It has often been remarked by chemists of
repute, that, in whatever manner carbonate of
hme was produced in the laboratory, notliing re-
sembhng chalk has ever been obtained. The
mystery was solved when Ehrenberg showed us
that this substance is almost entirely composed of
fossil animalculge, of which he counted as many as
a million and a third in one cubic inch.

The manner in which these microscopic fossils
may be rendered visible is thus : — On a plate of
glass we place an extremely fine layer of chalk,
which, when perfectly dry, is covered over with
Canada balsam ; and then, gently warming the
whole, we observe with a magnifying power of two
to three hundred diameters.

Seventy-one species of these Foraminifera were

264 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

soon detected in tlie white clialk. many of wMcb.
may still be found living in the North. Sea. It was
also found that^ in the chalk deposits of Southern
Europe^ the fossil animalculas are beautifully pre-
served ; whilst in the chalk of more northern lati-
tudes,, their shells are mostly found broken.

Microscopic vegetable forms^ principally Biato-
macece, abound also in the foraminiferous chalky as
in the other infusorial deposits of which I have
spoken. Mr. E. O^Meara has lately found forty-two
species of Biatomaceoe in the white chalk of Antrim,
all of which are identical with living species.

"V^Tien we consider the time that these immense
deposits of animalculee — such as the cliffs of Dover
for instance — must have taken to accumulate, we
can form no adequate idea of it, and we are once
again reminded that time is the creation of man
— that natm^e knows no time !

)|^|)l# IC

Sponges.

Iiemarks on Classification — Structure of a Sponge —
JTaturalists zuho have contrihuted to the history of
Sponges — Chemical nature of Sponge — Interesting
results — Spongia officinalis and S. usta — The Syrian
toilet Sponge — Its high price — Other Sponges — Oh-
jeots for the Jxquarium — Spongilla fiuviatilis and^
S. lucustris, or the fresh-ujater Sponges — Sponges
common on the English Coast — Their use in
Jdedicine — Sources of Iodine and ^romine — Flints
and Jlgates, as owing their formation to Sponges —
(Petrified Sponges — (Practical details on the toilet
Sponge — Sponge Fishery and Sponge Jd ark ets.

SPONGES.

HAVE placed Sponges in my last chapter,
and in doing so I am apparently following
/^ the old zoological routine, wliicli regards
these singular beings as the last link of the
animal chain-^the hnk which joins the animal to
the vegetable world ; but this surely is not a fact !
Sponges are evidently more closely alHed to Polypes
than to such animalcules as the Monads. Indeed,
had it been practicable, I would willingly have con-
densed Polypes, Infusoria, and Sponges into one
chapter. But the reason why Infusoria have been
lately placed before Sponges by most zoologists
appears to be, that as the former class becomes
better known, and the organization of its species
more thoroughly investigated by means of the
powerful microscopes constructed at the present
day, the complication of their structure excites
astonishment, and, as we have already seen, many
genera are being placed much higher in the series
than the places which were formerly assigned to

268 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIPE.

tliem. In tlie same way many Infusoria will pro-
bably,, one day^ be classed below Sponges. We
must look upon a vast number of these microscopic
beings as a group of animals under discussion.
Proper places will be assigned to tbem as we
become better acquainted witli their organization.
In tbe meanwhile it would be rasli to attach too
great an importance to the fact of my placing, in
this work, Infusoria before Sponges, and Folijpes
before Infusoria, when, in a zoological point of
view, they might, perhaps, for some years to come,
be all jumbled into one chapter.

I stated in my last chapter, that time was a
creation of man. It is equally evident that these
zoological divisions are also the work of man, and
as Nature knows no time, so also she knows no
division. Nature is one harmonious whole, which
man has cut up into sections in order to investigate
this whole, piece by piece. One small piece gene-
rally suffices for many generations of human
intellect !

Let us now see, in the fewest words possible,
what a sponge is.

The sponge itself — i. e., the substance we use as
such — is composed of a horny flexible skeleton,
forming a dense anastomosed tissue, in which
numerous pores are seen. These are the openings
of canals which traverse the sponge in all directions.

SPONGES. 269

Tiie canals are lined witli a soft gelatinous animal
matter^ up to the opening of the pores themselves.
The pores are strengthened, and probably kept
open_, by curious little needle-like bodies, called
spiculay which are either sihceous or calcareous.
Whilst the animal is alive, the water entering into
the sponge by the pores circulates in the canals of
the sponge, and is finally expelled through the
larger openings, called orifices (or oscula), which are
also observable on the sui'face, interspersed among
the pores.

The currents thus observed are generated
either by a ciliary apparatus existing in the
gelatinous substance which Hues the canals, or by
capillarity.*

The currents from the orifices are best observed
by placing a sponge, whilst alive, in a shallow dish of
water, upon which a little powdered chalk has been
thrown. The motions of the atoms of chalk will
indicate precisely the direction of the currents. If
the gelatinous matter which Hues the canals be
separated, by hot water, from the tissue or skeleton,
the latter may be then examined under the micro-
scope.

The gelatinous substance putrifies easily ; it is of
various colours, but principally yellowish-brown, and
resembles the soft part of polypes.

* Consult on this Dutrochet, in the Memoirs cited on p. 271.

270 UTILIZATION or MINUTE LIFE.

The ova of sponges are numerous irregularly-
sliaped granular bodies,, endowed with vibrating
cilia^ by which they move. They issue at different
periods from the gelatinous matter. These ova
float in the water ; moved about by the cilia which
garnish their anterior extremity, they are carried on
by the currents through the sponge, and are finally
expelled through the larger orifices. They swim
about freely in the water for a little while, and then
fix themselves for ever to the rocks, and grow into
new sponges. These ova, or moveable eggs, have
frequently been taken for the animal (the sponge)
itself.

The sjncula are microscopic needles, sometimes
straight, sometimes curved or star-shaped; others
resemble the anchors of ships, etc., in form. When
the spicula are siliceous, they are best seen after
the sponge is burnt, on examining under the micro-
scope the ash which is left.

Sponges with calcareous spicula are rather nu-
merous on our coasts, and siliceous spicula are
common in sponges of most latitudes.

It is almost entirely to English naturalists that
we are indebted for the knowledge we possess of
these curious organisms. Ellis was the first to
establish the existence of currents of water passing
constantly through the tissue of sponges. Dr. Grant,
whilst confirming Ellis's observation, added so much

SPONGES. 271

valuable matter to tlie natural history of sponges,
tliat his name lias become European.*

The chemical nature of sponge is yet a problem
to be solved, which may be said of many other
animal products. However, something has been
done, with a view to solve the difficulty, by Mulder,
Crookewit, and Posselt. One of the most remark-
able results obtained with regard to the chemical
composition of the sponge is that arrived at by
Crookewit, who, on analyzing a specimen of Sjpongia
officinalis, discovered in it that peculiar substance
called ^6?'om, which Mulder first extracted from the
silk of the silkworm, as I stated in the proper
place.

The analyses of this new product do not
exactly agree, but they tend to show that fibroin
contains 39 proportions of carbon, 62 of hydrogen,
12 of nitrogen, and 17 of oxygen. Besides this,
sponge contains a certain proportion of phosphorus,
of sulphur, and of iodine, which are combined, in
some as yet unknown manner, with the fibroin. No
albumine or gelatine have been found in sponges,

* See Ellis *' On Corallines," and Grant " On Sponges," in
"Edin. Phil. Journ." Also De Blainville, " Actinologie;" La-
mouroux, " Genre des Polypes ;" Dr. Fleming, " British Animals ;'*
Dutrochet, *' Mem. on the Spongilla," in his "Mem. pour servir k
I'Hist. des Yeg.," etc.; Bowerbank, in "Proceed, of the Geol.
Soc," and in " Microscopic Journ., 1841 ;" also " Brit. Ass. Eep.,
1857."

272 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

as in silk. An elementary analysis of commercial
sponge lias given, in 100 parts —

Carbon 47-16

Hydrogen 6'31

Nitrogen 16'15

Oxygen 26*90

Iodine 1*08

Sulphur 0-50

Phospliorus 1*90

Bromine traces

100-00
Hence I conclude tliat tlie animal matter of sponge
belongs to tlie group wliicli contains fibrine, albu-
mine, gelatine, etc., all of wliicli give a per-centage
of nitrogen resembling the above.

Winckler and Rao-azzini have both shown that

o

the ash obtained by the combustion of Spongia usta
contains slight quantities of bromine.

These results are certainly not devoid of interest.
Both Crookewit^s and Posselt^s analyses agree
pretty well, and show that sponge contains rather
more than 16 per cent, of nitrogen. It is, there-
fore, as rich in this element as the most valuable
kinds of guano are.

The common sponge (Spongia officinalis, L.) is
found abundantly in the Mediterranean, and will
doubtless be cultivated^ one of these days, by the

SPONGES. 373

French upon the coasts of France and Algeria,
though nothing of the sort has yet been attempted
by them. It is imported at Liverpool from Turkey
under the name of Turkey sjponge, together with the
West Indian, or Bahamia sponge [Spongia usta), a
distinct species. The latter arrives in Liverpool
from the Bahama Islands. The average importation
to this seaport is about 135 cases per annum, each
case containing about 500 sponges of various sizes,
of which the average value is about 35.9. per
pound.

These two kinds of sponges form an important
branch of commerce. The most prized for toilet
purposes are the Syrian sponges. They are gene-
rally conical in shape, or sometimes hemispherical ;
the orifices of their internal canals are very small j
they are hollow in the centre like a goblet, and
their exterior possesses the softness of the finest
velvet. I have seen some of these beautiful sponges
selUng in the Palais Royal, at Paris, for as much as
200 francs (£8) a piece. They were about five
inches in diameter. Others, much smaller, were
put up for sale at 50, 60, and 70 francs.

Besides the two species just named, there exist
a number of others, some of which are common
on our coasts, and astonish us by the beauty
of their organization. The small parasitical
sponges that cover the stalks of sea-weeds, or the

T

274 UTILIZATION OF MIXUTE LIFE.

larger varieties wliicli cling to tlie rocks^ well repay
observation_, and would form interesting objects for
tlie aquarium. The same might be said of those
two remarkable species of fresh-water sponges,
Spongilla fluviatilis and 8. lacustris. One of these
species [8. fluviatilis) is not unfrequently met with
in the ditches around Paris, and probably around
London also. These 8iwngilla are green, and at
first sight would be taken for vegetables. Mr. John
Hogg has published, in the ^^Linneean Trans-
actions,^^ some experiments made with a view of
ascertaining the effect of light upon these fi'esh-
water sponges. He has shown that they are infla-
enced by it as vegetables are, and that their green
colour depends upon their exposure to it. M.
Hutrochet, in the memoir cited above, has studied
minutely the organization of these fresh-water
sponges.

To return to marine sponges, one of the most
common of our indigenous species, 8i3ongia oculata,
or Ralichondria oculata (Fig. 37), may be made to
serve the same purposes as foreign sponges, save
for the toilet; whilst H. loalmata, H. cervicoimis,
S. tuhulosa, R. simulans, etc., form beautiful speci-
mens for the aquarium.

Carbonized sponge has been long used in medi-
cine ; its effects appear to depend upon the small
quantity of iodine contained in it, of which, in

/

I W f m ^ I

by!

i

Fig. 37.
Spongia oculata (Enfjlish sponge).

SPONGES. 277

its natural state, tliis sponge contains about one
per cent. It miglit, therefore^ be a profitable
speculation to extract this useful element from
such, sponges as S. ocidata that abound on some
of our English coasts. It is probable, also, that
if all the difierent varieties of sponges, polypes,
star-fish, etc., which are left to putrefy upon our
shores, were properly collected, they would prove a
valuable source of iodine and bromine, which are
now, in spite of their high price, so much used in
the chemical laboratory and by photographers. In
places where sponges are abundant, the commoner
sorts would prove useful to manure manufacturers,
on account of the large per-centage of nitrogen
they contain. They are soluble in strong acids,
and also in alkahne solutions. It has been found
the S. tomentosa {8. urens), which is common upon
the coasts of England and North America, will
raise blisters when rubbed upon the hand ; and if
previously dried in an oven, its stinging faculty is
much increased.

According to Dr. J. S. Bowerbank, the flints of
the chalk formation, and the beautiful moss agates
which eveiy one admires, are of spongeous origin ;
that is to say, have been formed by sponges which
are now fossil. In fact, agates and flints are,
according to this author, j^efrZ/ietZ sijoncjes. It is
indeed true that the polished section of a moss

278 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

agate^ or of certain flints^ exliibits, in a beautiful
manner^ tlie structure of a sponge. Dr. Bower-
bank^s views on tliis subject are very clearly ex-
pressed in bis paper read before the British Asso-
ciation in 1856, in wliicli be brings forward
numerous proofs of bis tbeory, and to wbicb I must
refer my readers for tbe details. I agree witb this
author tbat sponges doubtless bave_, at various
periods of tbe eartb's bistory, largely contributed
towards tbe formation of agates emd flints ; but it is
evident, at tbe same time, tbat other siliceous de-
posits, such as those of fossil infusoria, etc., have a
very different origin.

Fbnts generally contain numerous fossil infu-
soria, and indeed their formation has often been
attributed to the remains of these animalculse. At
the same time, sponges appear to have contributed
also to the formation of these curious stones ; and
here is a cm^ious fact in relation to this : — In the
south of Europe, the beds of marl which alternate
with the white chalk consist of myriads of sihceous
shells of Infusoria and Diatomacece, and flints are
wanting ; whilst in the north of Europe the reverse
is found to be the case — beds of flint are met with,
and marls with infusoria are wanting.

Fbnts not only show beautifully-preserved re-
mains of sponges, but also those of polypes, such
as Alcyonia, etc., EcMnia, and other marine organ-

SPONGES. 279

isms, even molluscous shells or their impressions,
numerous infusoria, and star-like microscopic ob-
jects, wliicli have been taken for fossil animalculae,
and termed Xanthidicij but which are probably the
spicula of fossil sponges.

The colour of flints, agates, etc., is owing to
organic matter, and is consequently destroyed by
heat. AYhen calcined and ground to powder, flints
are used to manufacture the finer sorts of pottery,
and which is termed flint-glass. Before the inven-
tion of percussion-caps, gun-flints were in general
use. It is a curious fact that sponges, one of the
softest of animal structures, should have contributed
so much to form one of the hardest of mineral
substances, and that men have made war and
slaughtered many thousands of their fellow-creatures
by means of sponges and infusoria !

Flints also form an excellent building material,
because they give a firm hold to the mortar, and
resist every vicissitude of weather^ The counties
of Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, etc., afford ex-
amples of many substantial constructions in flint
masonry.

The uses of agates, for brooches, rings, seals,
etc., are too well known to need mention here.

To return now to the toilet sponge, which con-
stitutes such an important article of commerce, and
about which I will add a few practical details.

280 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

The exact time required for tlie growtli of tlie
rigid portion or skeleton of the sponge,, and tlie
duration of tliis skeleton^ is not known witk accu-
racy; but it appears^ from recent investigations,
tliat beds of sponges spring up and increase rapidly
where tliey were not before observed, and that a
period of two years is generally sufficient to renew
the crop of sponges on rocks that have been laid
almost bare by the sponge fisheries. It has also
been asserted that of all the numerous varieties of
sponge already known, that which possesses the
most precious quahties for the toilet grows in the
Mediterranean. The places where its growth is
most abundant are in the Grecian archipelago, the
coasts of Syria and those of Barbary. The sponge
fishery there is a profitable trade, and although
perfectly free, it is scarcely practised by any others
than the Greeks and the inhabitants of the shores
on which sponges grow luxuriantly.

A strong constitution and a certain intrepidity
being required, the sponge fishery is almost com-
pletely monopolized by the Greek and Arabian
divers.

The coarser varieties of sponge are brought up
from a comparatively slight depth, but for the soft,
delicate varieties it is sometimes necessary to dive
down thirty fathoms or more.

As soon as they are taken from the water, the

SPONGES. 281

sponges undergo a very essential operation. They
are placed in large round shallow holes dug in the
sand of the coast, and filled with water_, where they
are trampled upon by the men until they are divested
of their gelatinous animal matter and other im-
purities.

Beyrouth, Lattakiek, and above all Tripoli, are
the most important sponge markets. Strangers
arrive at Tripoli — where the fine landscape recalls
the beautiful environs of Eden, which is only eight
leagues distant — from all parts of the Levant, from
every point of the Mediterranean, and even from
Paris. Nothing can be more curious than this
melange of people of every nation drawn to one
spot during the sponge season, every individual
striving to outdo his neighbour, and competing to
his utmost with the commercial dexterity of the
keen Greek sponge merchants.

The market at Tripoli is held about the middle
of September, a period at which the sponge fishery,
like our work, draws to an end.

Note. — Since this volume was written, I find in
the '^Intellectual Observer'^ for Januaiy, 1864,
a valuable article upon the Tinnevelly Pearl Banks,

282 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE.

by Clements R. Markliam^ Esq.^ in whidi tlie author,
whose views coincide perfectly with my own, gives
much interesting information regarding the Asiatic
Pearl Fisheries, showing the absolute necessity of
estabhshing a more rigorous method and a proper
cultivation of the pearl-oyster, based upon scientific
observation, in order to reform the present unsatis-
factory state of these fisheries.

THE END.

HARRILD, PUINTEK, LOKDOW.

LIST OF WORKS AND PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS
By DE. T. L. PHIPSON, P.C.S. Loxd.,

Late of the University of Bruxelles; Member of the Chemical Society of Paris; Laureate of the
Datch Society of Sciences; Corr. Memb. of the Belgian Entomological Society, the Pharma-
ceutical Society of Antwerp, the Society of Medical and Natural Sciences of
Bruxelles, the Society of Sciences of Strasburs, etc., one of the Editors
of " Le Cosmos," etc., etc.

1. The Utilization of Minute Life. 8vo, London, 186i. Groombridge and Sons.

2. Phosphorescence ; or, the Emission of Light by Minerals, Plants, and Animals.

8vo. London, 1862. Eeeve and Co.

3. La Force Catalytique, Etudes sur les Phenomenes de Contact (Prize Essay,

Dutch Society of Sciences). 4to. Harlem, 1858. Loosjes.

4. Le Preparateur-Photographe, traite de Chiniie a I'usage des Photographes, etc.

8vo. Paris, 1864. Leiber.

5. Essay on the Uses of Salt in Agriculture' (Prize Essay). London, 1863, Simpldn,

6. Memoire sur le Fecule et les Substances qui peuvent la remplacer dansl'Industrie.

Bruxelles, 1S.54. Tircher.

7. Recherches nouvelles sur le Phosphore. Bruxelles, 18.55. Tircher.

8. Essai sur les Animaux Domestiques des Ordres Inferieurs, Paris, 1857. Leiber.

In the Journal of the Chemical Society, 1862 to 1864.

1. On the Transformations of Citric,

Butyric, and Valerianic Acids. 1862.

2. On Sombrerite, anew mineral. 1862.

3. On the Bicarbonate of Ammonia of
the Chinca Isles. 1863.

4. On Vanadium Ochre, and other

sources ol Vanadic Acid. 1863.

In the Proceedings of the Eoyal Society, ].863 to 1864.

1. Eesearches on several Mineral Sub- I 3. Xote on the Variations of Density

stances, including their Analysis, etc. produced by Heat in Mineral Sub-

2. On Magnesium. | stances.

In Comptes-Eenclus de V Academic des Sciences de Paris, 1856 to 1863.

10,

1. De 1' Action des Corps Organiques sur

rOxygene. 1856.

2. Sur la Production de la Mannite par

les Plantes Marines. 1856.

3. Sur une NouveUe Koche de Formation

Eecente, etc. (1857 and 1860, two
notes).

4. Sur quelques Phenomenes Meteoro-

logiques observes sur le littoral de
la Flandre. 1857.

5. Xotes sur les Teredo Fossiles. 1857.

6. Sur une Pluie sans K^uages observee a

Paris. 1857.

7. Sur la Putrefaction a 35 degres sous

zero. 1857.

8. Action de la Santonine sur la Vue. j

1859. I

9. Sur la Presence de 1' Aniline dans i

certains Champignons. 1860. |

In the Chemical News and Journal

1. On a new Sulphide of Chromium. I

1861.

2. Note on Fluorine. 1861.

3. On a new Colourin»-matter. 1861.

4. Experiments and ( ibservations on the

part pla3'ed by Oxygen in Erema-
causis and Fermentations. 1863.

5. On the presence of Xanthiff Oxide in

Guanos containing no Uric Acid.
1862.

Sur une Pluie de foin observee a
Londres. 1861.

Sur quelques cas nouveaux de Phos-
phorescence par la Chaleur. I860.

Sur la Matiere Phosphorescente de la
Eaie. 1860.

Sur un Oxide d'Antimoine natif de
Borneo. 1861.

Sur le Tinkalzite de Peroa. 1861.

Sur un BrouiUard sec a Londres. 1861.

Sur la Couleur des Feuilles. 1858.

Sur le Soufre Arsenifere des Solfa-
tares de Naples, et sur la Prepara-
tion du Selenium. 1862.

Sur I'acide Manganique. 1860.

Sur un Oligiste de I'Epoque Devonien
et sur une Matiere Organique qu'il
contient. 1861.

of Physical Science, 1860 to 1864.

6. Analysis of the Diluvial Soil of Bra-

bant, etc. 1862.

7. On the Argentiferous Gossan of Corn-

wall. 1862.

8. Analysis of a Specimen of Fossil Wood

from the Green-sand of the Isle ot
Wight. 1862.

9. Composition of a peculiar substance

which exudes from a Tertiary rock
in Australia. 1862.

10. On Native Zinc and ISTatire Tin. 1862.

11. On Crystallized Platinum. 1S62.

12. Artificial formation of Populine. 1S62.

13. On a new Harmonica Chjmica. 1862.

14. On Musical Sounds produced by

Carbon. 1863,

15. Determination of Specific Gravity of

Mineral Substances. 1862.

16. On Zinc Green. 1863.

17. On a new method of Measuring the

Chemical Action of the Sun's Kays.
1863.

18. Note on Vegetable Ivory. 1863.

19. On the constant increase of Organic

Matter in Cultivated Soils. 1863.

20. On the Composition of Gas-refuse.

1863.

21. Potabilisation of Sea-water by the

Electric Current. 1863.

In the Journal de Medecine et de Pharmacologie de Bruxelles, from
1854 to 1862 iuclusivelv.

1. Experiences et Observations sur la 10

Presence de rAniinoniaque dans la
Eespiration. 1856.

2. Action de TAcide Sulfurique sur le

Zinc et le Fer. 185S (two papers).

3. Quelques mots sur les Modification^

Allotropiques des gaz. 1855.

4. Sur rOxygene AUotropique, etc. 1856.

5. Encore quelques mots sur I'Ozone,

etc. 1856.

6. Sur les Produits de la Distillation

seche des Matieres fecales. 1857.

7. Sur le Tert de Zinc. 1857.

8. Sur les grenats Naturels et Artificiels,

1857.

9. Analyse d'un Melange Gazeux Conte-

nant du I'Oxygene. 1856.

Sur les Bolets bleuissants, Etude de la
Formation des Matieres Colorantes
chez les Champignons. 1860.

11. Protoetista ou la Science de la Creation
aux points de vue de la Chimie et de
U Physiologic. 1861.

12. Analyses de quelques Substances
Minerales. 1862.

13. Sur la Forme Crystalline da Charbon.
1859.

14. Sur une nouvelle Theorie d'Etherifica-
tion. 1855.

15. Sur le Fluorure de Potassium. 1858.

16. Sur les Oxalates de Per. 1861.

17. Sur la Theorie Electro -Chimique.
1856.

MISCELLAXEOrS WETTINGS.

In the Geologist, Tols. i. and ii., 1858 to July 1859.
Foreign Correspondence. 19 Papers.

In the Intellectual Observer, 1864.

Yanadic Acid.

The Phosphates used in Agriculture.

In the Popular Science Eevieto, 1863 to 1864.
Anaesthetics. The Aniline Dyes.

In Macmillan' s Magazine, 1862 to 1864.
Electricity at Work. Gold, its Chemistry jnd Mineralogy.

The Cheimstry of the Sea.

The Movements of Plants.

In the Cosmos, Paris, 1856 to 1864. 18 vols.
Eeviews, Miscellaneous Articles, and EngUsh Correspondence.

In the Iloniteur de la Photagraphie, Paris, 1861 to 1864. 4 vols.
English Correspondence.

In the Technologist, 1861, and Photograpliic NeivSy 1861.
On a New Process of Photography without Silver.

In the Progres par la Science, Bruxelles, 1864.
Etudes de Chimie Agricole.

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%^%fffvers{ry of British Columbia Library

:Sa»tC5DATE DUE

FORM No 310

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