UC-NRLF 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
THE 
 
 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
THE 
 
 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE; 
 
 BEING 
 
 PRACTICAL STUDIES 
 
 ON 
 
 INSECTS, CRUSTACEA, MOLLUSCA, WOKMS, POLYPES, 
 INEUSOEIA, AND SPONGES, 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. 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, Memo, of the Belgian Entomological Society, the Pharmaceutical Society 
 
 of Aiitwexp, the Society of Medical and Natural Sciences of Bruxelles, the Society of 
 
 Sciences of Strasburg, etc., one of the Editors of " Le Cosmos," etc., etc. 
 
 Circular Coral Island, recently formed in the Pacific Ocean, principally composed of the species 
 Madrepora ir.icricofa, and shutting in a portion of the ocean as a lake. 
 
 LONDON: 
 GROOMBRIDaE AND SONS. 
 
 MDCCCLXIV. 
 
TO 
 
 WILLIAM SCHOLEFIELD, ESQ., M.P., 
 
 ETC., ETC., 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 practical efforts that have characterized your 
 labours in Parliament, and of the personal friendship I 
 bear to yourself. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 M350387 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A VERY few words will suffice to make known 
 my object in writing the present work. 
 
 Zoology and Botany have been looked 
 upon as constituting less practical 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 directly to the welfare of mankind, 
 
Viii PREFACE. 
 
 and the methods by which they may be 
 cultivated. 
 
 This remark is especially applicable to 
 the lower classes of animals, to the Inverte- 
 brata, and to these I have devoted the fol- 
 lowing pages. Their investigation in a 
 practical 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 propagation 
 of several of the more valuable species. 
 
 It is not sufficient 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- 
 
PKEPACE. IX 
 
 mitted to culture, and propagated more exten- 
 sively by artificial means, and thereby increase 
 the 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 afforded 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, 1864. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 * 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Domestication Characteristics of a Species Creation of 
 Eaces and Varieties Lost Types of the Animal King- 
 dom Modified Species Domestic Animals of Inferior 
 Orders Pisciculture Creation of New Eaces of Fish 
 Cultivation of the Lower Animals . . . 1 8 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 
 
 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- 
 byx mori The Golden Tree The Province of Seres 
 and the Morea Prolongation of Life in Plants and 
 Animals Artificial Incubation and Eearing of Bornbyx 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 mori Enormous Appetites- Insects living without 
 Food Kate at which the Silkworm spins Modes of 
 Destroying the Chrysalis Calculation basis of Silk- 
 breeding The two Mulberry Trees Diseases of Silk- 
 worms and their Eemedies Improvement of Bombyx 
 mori Tussah Silkworms Bomlyx pernyi and JB. 
 Mylitta Bombyx Cynthia Extraordinary Qualities of 
 Silk Other New Species of Silkworm Spreading of 
 these New. Races The Madagascar Silkworm Pro- 
 duction of Coloured Silk by the Insects themselves 
 vt Experiments Bombyx madrono, Silk of the Clothes- 
 Moth, Tinea The Paraguay Spider Ichneumon of 
 the West Indies Silk Imported into Liverpool 
 
 935 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 COLQUK-PBODTJCING- INSECTS. 
 
 The Kermes Latreille and his genus Coccus Coccus ilicis 
 Crimson of the Eomans Brussels and Flemish Tapes- 
 tries Coccus polonicus Coccus of the Poterium Coccus 
 urva-ursiThe Cochineal, Coccus cacti Plants on which 
 the Cochineal lives Nopaleries Grana sylvestra and 
 Grana fina Rearing of Cochineal The Cochineal at 
 Teneriffe The Bluebottle Fly and the Aphides Gene- 
 ration extraordinary Two New Cochineals in Australia 
 CocusfdbcB (or Aphis fabse) in France Its Peculiar 
 Colouring Matter Lac Carminium, its Discovery and 
 Properties The Colouring Matter of the Cochineal 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 discovered in the Vegetable World Carmine Influ- 
 ence of Light in the Manufacture of Colours Rouge 
 forthe face Ink The Cynips Caprification Dioecious 
 Plants Eipening of Figs in the East Gall-nuts Cy- 
 nips gallce tinctorice Theory of the Formation of Vege- 
 table Tumours Analysis of Gall-nuts Their Products 
 and Uses Cynips quercus folii On the Formation of 
 Grease by Animals Other Insects Producing Dyes 
 Aphis pini Money-spiders The Magenta Dye and 
 Cochineal , 3764 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY AND 
 
 MANNA. 
 
 Chinese Coccus which produces a kind of Spermaceti 
 Value of its Produce White Lac Insects producing 
 Resin Wax Insect of Sumatra Details concerning 
 the wax Coccus Bees Apis mollified Its native 
 country Virgil Modern Authors who have Written 
 on Bees Apis ligustica A. amalthea and its curious 
 Nests Bamburos Apis unicolor Green Honey of 
 Bourbon Kock-honey of North America Apisfasciata 
 A. indica A. Adansonii A Swarm of Bees The 
 Queen, Males and Workers Mathematics of the Bee- 
 cell Silkproduced by Bees Production of Wax How 
 Honey is procured Plants favourable to Bees Dura- 
 tion of Life in Bees Enemies and Maladies Chloro- 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 forming Bees Mr. Nutt's Hives Profit derived from 
 Bee-culture 'New modes of Preserving Bees during 
 Winter Periodical Transportation of Hives How to 
 discover Bees' Nests New 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 maniparusWaxi, its 
 Nature, Composition, and Uses . . . 65 90 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OE AS FOOD, AND 
 OTHEE INSECTS USEFUL TO MAN. 
 
 Spanish Flies Cantharides Their Medical Properties 
 Cantharidine Cantharides in Poitou Different Species 
 of Cantharides Discovery of Cantharidine in Meloe 
 The Meloe, or Oil Beetle Metamorphoses of Moloe and 
 Sitaris Cetonio aurata Coccinella Trehala JBuprestis 
 Ants Formic and Malic 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 edulis 
 Centipedes The Mexican Boat Flies Beetle used for 
 Soap Calandra granaria Presence of Tannic and 
 Gallic Acids in this Beetle Fire Flies Truffle Flies 
 The Common House Fly, etc. Eemarkable Action of 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Light upon Animal Life Growth of Insects under 
 differently Coloured Light .... 91110 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 CRUSTACEA, 
 
 Artificial Propagation practicable with Crustacea as with 
 Fish The Common Lobster Laws of Regeneration 
 The Craw Fish Curious Discoveries relating to the 
 Young of these Animals Phyllosoma Zoea Meta- 
 morphoses among Crustacea Praniza and Ancea 
 Larvae of Lobsters Colouring Matter of Lobsters, 
 Crawfish, etc. Composition of a Lobster Shell- 
 Shrimps Crangon vulgaris C. boreas Sabinea sep- 
 tem-carinata and other Shrimps Prawns Palemon 
 car emus and P. jamaicensis Other Prawns Bopyrus 
 crangorum The Isopoda The Family of Crabs 
 Cancer pagurus C. mcenas Pinnotheres Pagurus 
 Diogenes Land Crabs Thelphusa fluviatilis Crabs of 
 the genus Gecarcinus Their Wonderful Emigrations 
 Bernardin de St. Pierre Birgus latro Bobber Crab 
 Quantity of Fat it Produces Concluding Kemarks on 
 this Family 111134 
 
 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 their Colour Nautilus Argo- 
 nauta Carinaria. 
 
 GASTEROPODA : The Tyrian Purple Curious Properties of 
 the Colouring Matter of Sea-snails Murex Irandaris 
 Purpura lapillus Helix fragilis Yandinafragilis Pur- 
 pura patella Murex truncatus Experiments with 
 American Sea-snails Colour furnished by Whelks 
 JBuccinum Influence of Light upon the Production of 
 their Colour Process used by the Ancients to dye 
 Purple Uric Acid in Gasteropoda Murexide Snails 
 that are Beared for Food, etc. Helix pomatia Snail- 
 gardens H. aspersa H. horticola Arion rufus Ana- 
 lysis of Snails Limacine Helicine Uric Acid in If. 
 pomatia Turbo littoreus, or Periwinkle Haliotis 
 Snails used as Money Cyprcea moneta Other Species 
 of Cypraea " Love-shells " Conus Oliva Ovula 
 Strombus gigas Cassis Turbinella Murex Buccinum 
 Curious Experiments with Snails Slugs Limax 
 maximus L. agrestis, 
 
 BIVALVES : Mytilus edulis, or Common Mussel Its Culture, 
 etc. Hurtful at certain seasons M. cJwros M. Magel- 
 lanicus M^ area M. liihopliagus Ostrea edulis, or 
 Common Oyster Details concerning its Artificial 
 Breeding and Propagation Acclimatisation of Mol- 
 lusca Fishing on the Plessix bed Spondylus Car- 
 dium edule, or Cockle SolenPecten maximus Tellina 
 Tridacna gigas Chama Cameos Stone Cameos and 
 Shell Cameos Chinese Cameos Pearl Oysters 
 
CONTENTS. XV11 
 
 Avicula margaritiferaA. frimbriata A. sterna Pearl 
 Fishery Details, etc. Pearls of Mytilus edulis Ano- 
 dontes Unio pictorum Unto margaritiferus Culture of 
 the Fresh-water Pearl-Mussel Value of its Pearls 
 Artificial modes of causing, it to produce Pearls Pinna 
 Their Silky Byssus and its uses Their Pearls Other 
 uses of Shells Tunicata and Bryozoa . . 135198 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 i 
 
 WORMS. 
 
 Curious Observations upon Worms Eeproductive Power 
 of the Na'is Sabularia Terebella Lumbricus Planaria 
 Helminthes, or Entozoa The Common Earth-worm, 
 Lumbricus terrestris The Leech, Hirudo medicinalis 
 The Horse-leech, //. s'anguisuga " Hirudiculture," or 
 Leech-breeding Its Cruelties Extent to which it is 
 carried in France Barometers of Leeches and Frogs 
 Worms for the Aquarium .... 199210 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 POLYPES. 
 
 General Eemarks on Polypes Their Organization and Poly- 
 pidom Naturalists who have written upon Polypes 
 Hydra fusca and H. viridis Eeproduction of Polypes 
 Polypes for the Aquarium Corallium nobilis and general 
 Observations on Coral Its Polypidom Practical 
 Details concerning Coral " Coralliculture " Coral 
 
XVlil CONTENTS. 
 
 Fishery Uses of Coral Isis hippuris, or Articulated 
 Coral Tubipora musica The genus Madreporaneef 
 and Coral Islands Formation of Eeefs Madrepora 
 muricataIts Chemical Composition How it derives 
 its Lime Its uses ..... 211 234 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 INFUSOKIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 
 
 Microscopic Animals useful to Man Universal Distribution 
 of Infusoria Dry Fogs Authors who have studied 
 Infusoria Philosophical considerations concerning 
 them The Monads, Rotifera, Vibrio Rhizopoda 
 Monas crepusculum, the most minute of living beings 
 Deposit in which the Transatlantic Cable lies 
 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 Infusoria, 
 Foraminifera, and Diatomaceae Soluble Glass obtained 
 from Infusorial Deposits Its Uses Other applications 
 of Infusorial Earth Chalk, its Uses and Origin The 
 Nummulite Limestone Paris mostly built of Ani- 
 malculae Other details Time 235264 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 SPONGES. 
 
 Eemarks on Classification Structure of a Sponge Natu- 
 ralists who have contributed to the History of Sponges 
 Chemical Nature of Sponge Interesting results 
 Spongia afficinalis and S. usta The Syrian toilet 
 Sponge Its high price Other Sponges Objects for 
 the Aquarium Spongilla flumatilis and S. lacustris, or 
 the Fresh-water Sponges Sponges common on the 
 English 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 265282 
 
Introduction, 
 
 (Domestication Characteristics of a Species Creation 
 of tfaces and Varieties Lost ^ypes of the jinimal 
 Kingdom Jtfodified Species (Domestic 
 of Inferior Orders (Pisciculture Creation o 
 tfaces of Fish Cultivation of the Lower Animals. 
 
THE 
 
 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 ilE lower classes of animals which are treated 
 of in the 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 earliest historic periods, and which 
 have generally been termed ee domestic animals." 
 
 Such a term might, 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 nattering their natural tastes, by 
 placing them artificially in circumstances similar in 
 many respects to those of the savage state, preserv- 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing as much as possible their natural instincts, that 
 the subjugation and domestication of the most useful 
 species has been accomplished. It is still a discussed 
 point among 1 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 
 Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and Darwin, he must not com- 
 pletely throw 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 ! 
 
 Where 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 Commentarii, etc., 1556) in the six- 
 
INTEODUCTION. 5 
 
 teenth century, under the 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, animalculae, etc., 
 spoken of as " domestic animals." But do we not 
 rear our silkworms with as much care as our sheep or 
 our cows ? Do we not construct houses for our bees, 
 cochineals, snails, oysters, etc., as we do for our 
 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 light. But their study 
 affords far greater interest, and, in many cases, un- 
 doubtedly more profit, than that of superior animals. 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Imagine a man in difficult circumstances endea- 
 vouring to gain a livelihood by rearing some new 
 variety of dog, cow, horse, ass, or pig. He would 
 have greater chance of success were he to extract 
 some new colouring matter from the insect world, 
 or discover a means of doubling the produce of the 
 bee or the silkworm, or a method by which sponges 
 and corals might be cultivated with as much ease as 
 a lettuce or a cauliflower. 
 
 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 Invertebrata 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 naturalists 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. Ash worth, in "Report 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 which we 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, which 
 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 their 
 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 allied 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 directed to the latter. We speak now 
 of the amelioration of some insect species, of the 
 cultivation of a mollusc or a polype. We begin to 
 see how we can profit by infusoria or some other 
 animalculas. 
 
 The following pages will, I trust, give some idea 
 
 * Quite recently Mr. Francis and Mr. Buckland have again 
 brought forward the subject of Pisciculture in England. 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 .of the extent to which these practical studies are 
 actually pursued ; and what animals, a short time 
 since almost ignored, may eventually prove them- 
 selves a source of wealth, comfort, and happiness 
 ;to man. 
 
Silk-Producing Insects, 
 
 <?he Chemical JVature of SilkZhe Spider's Web 
 Ijombic Jlcid (Detection of Wool in Silk G-reat 
 Variety of Insects producing- Silk ^he Common 
 Silkworm, Ijombyx mori ^The G-olden ^Tree The 
 (Province of Seres and ilie Jvtorea (Prolongation of 
 Life in (Plants and Animals -Artificial Incubation 
 and Bearing- of Fjombyx mori Enormous jlppetites 
 Insects Living- without Food Rate at which the 
 Silkworm Spins -JVLodes cf (Destroying- the Chrysalis 
 Calculation basis of Silk-breeding- (-The two JUtul- 
 berry 'Trees (Diseases of Silkworms and their Re- 
 medies Improvement of ^ombyx mori ^ussah 
 Silkworms : Ijombyz (Pernyi and IJ. JVLylitta Ijom- 
 byx Cynthia Extraordinary Qualities of Silk Other 
 Jfew Species of Silkworm Spreading- of these JJew 
 Races- c lhe J^Ladag-ascar Silkworm (Production of 
 Coloured Silk by the Insects themselves Experi- 
 ments Ijornbyx madrona Silk of the Clothes- 
 J\doth : (-Tinea ^he (Parag-uay Spider Ichneumons 
 of the West Indies Silk Imported into Liverpool. 
 
SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 
 
 are, perhaps, of all animals, those 
 which have proved most useful to man. The 
 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 
 realizing 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 salivary glands of other animals, is very 
 little known. In the body of the silkworm it 
 appears as a viscous liquid, which becomes solid 
 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 vine- 
 gar, on opening the reservoir which contains the 
 liquid 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 the hands. These thick threads are used 
 to attach hooks to fishing-lines for large fish. 
 
 Eoard 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 
 liquid 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 liquid that 
 solidifies 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 liquid 
 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 lombic acid. It may also be obtained by 
 boiling raw silk with water, and evaporating with 
 precaution. This bombic acid is an extremely in- 
 teresting product, first noticed by Chaussier. It is 
 
SILK-PRODUCING INSECTS. 13 
 
 highly 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 larvge 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 roared with a 
 view of obtaining silk, but as yet only with limited 
 success. 
 
 The common silkworm is the larva of a kind of 
 moth (Bombyx mori) belonging to the family of 
 Lepidoptera. Much uncertainty has prevailed as 
 to the country in which this Bombyx 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 Romans to the 
 product of the silkworm. Persia and many other 
 countries of Asia began in their turns to profit by the 
 cultivation of the Bombyx mori, which industry is 
 still carried 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 kept 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 
 Italy, 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-PKODUCING INSECTS. 15 
 
 even in the time of the Emperor Justinian, a certain 
 portion of Greece was covered with such a quantity 
 of mulberry trees (Morus), that it received the name 
 of Morea, which it retains to the present day. 
 
 In an entomological work published 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 life. This remark, which is applicable to most 
 insects, is also true for annual plants ; and I have 
 shown in another work, that if the coupling 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 Pamphyla, and 
 she must not be mistaken for the woman of the same name who 
 wrote a general history in thirty-three volumes, in Nero's time, and 
 from whose name our English word pamphlet is perhaps derived. 
 
16 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 flowers carefully cut away as soon as they appear, 
 the plant, instead of remaining an annual, con- 
 tinues to live through the winter ; and if the same 
 operation be repeated throughout the following 
 year, our mignonette will soon become a ligneous 
 vegetable a real tree ; and from that moment the 
 duration of its life is unlimited. This then is the 
 whole secret of the " elixir of life/' at least as re- 
 srards plants and inferior animals. Future research 
 
 O 1 
 
 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 Apliis, or blight) had lived about twelve months 
 without the slightest 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 larva. 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 short as this is slowly or rapidly 
 excited.-" 
 
 It is during the spring that the eggs of the 
 silkworm moth undergo artificial incubation or 
 hatching. This is effected 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 larvae 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 climates 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 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 attention to this question, has 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 Van 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 ; in Italy from thirty to thirty- two days ; and 
 in the North 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 establish- 
 ment of the kind in Europe, 
 
 During this period the grubs change their skin 
 four times, and their appetite, which is enormous, 
 becomes still greater after each moulting. For- 
 * See "Medical Keview," January, 1861, London. 
 
; 
 
SILK-PEODUCING INSECTS. 21 
 
 tunately they cease eating and become drowsy as 
 the time of moulting approaches. At all times 
 their greatest enemies are damp and noise ; they 
 must be kept quiet, and, above all things, clean. 
 
 The larvae born from one ounce of eggs require 
 during their first age, which lasts five days, about 
 7 Ibs. weight of mulberry leaves. After the first 
 moulting, and during the second age, which lasts 
 only four days, they require 21 Ibs. of leaf. During 
 the third stage, which lasts a week, they devour 
 70 Ibs. of mulberry leaf; in the fourth stage (also 
 a week), 210 Ibs. ; and during the fifth stage, from 
 1200 to 1300 Ibs. of leaf. On the sixth day of this 
 last period, they devour as much as 200 Ibs. 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 larva or grubs 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 proved that the beetle called Slaps mortisaga 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 alive 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 inches per minute. The length of 
 silk furnished by one 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 English 
 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 Ibs. -weight 
 of cocoons produced from the larvse hatched from 
 one ounce of eggs. But this harvest is in some cases 
 far greater, and has been known to attain 1 30 Ibs. 
 
 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 chrysalids 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-PRODUCING INSECTS. 23 
 
 A certain number of cocoons are put aside to 
 perpetuate the breed. This operation is based upon 
 the calculation that 1 Ib. of cocoons are equivalent 
 to one ounce of eggs that is, that the moths from 
 1 Ib. of cocoons can produce one ounce weight of 
 eggs. We have already seen that one ounce of eggs 
 will produce 80 Ibs. of cocoons. 
 
 The mulberry tree (a native of China, and of 
 which there are two varieties : the black, Morus niger, 
 whose refreshing fruit is well known, and the white, 
 Morus alba, 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 witL 
 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, 
 Kussia, 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 living one. This de- 
 structive pestilence, for which no efficacious remedy 
 
24 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 appears to be known, is caused by a parasite fungus, 
 Botrytis bassiana, developed in the body of the grub. 
 Absolute cleanliness is the only method by which the 
 invasion of this parasite can be prevented. As soon 
 as it has made its appearance, the sick larvae must 
 be immediately separated from the others. 
 
 Atrophy- or Rachitism is generally caused by 
 a careless incubation ; it is then incurable ; but if 
 this disease result from negligence in the breeding, 
 it can be remedied by separating the sick larvas 
 from the others, and feeding the former upon more 
 delicate leaves. Gangrene, which finally reduces the 
 grub to a black fetid liquid, is the result of other 
 morbid affections, and is without remedy. Jaundice, 
 which 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 larvae, by means of a very fine 
 sieve, and then covering them with leaves soaked in 
 wine. 
 
 Apoplexy 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 the part of the 
 owners of silkworm establishments. 
 
 A remarkable improvement has lately been 
 effected in the breed of the common silkworm 
 (Bombyx 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 3 Encouragement,* I was invited 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 sorting 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 the present time almost all the silk pro- 
 duced in Europe, and the greater portion of that 
 manufactured in China, has been obtained from 
 the common silkworm (Bombyx 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 have been produced in India from other descrip- 
 tions of silkworms. Of these the most important 
 are the following : 
 
 First, the Tussah and Armdy silkworms, whose 
 history has been given with detail by Dr. Roxburgh 
 (" Linnean Transactions/' vii. 33) . The tussali silk- 
 worm (Bombyx Pernyi) is a native of Bengal, and 
 feeds upon the leaves of the Jujube tree (Zizyplius 
 jujuba). Dumeril, the celebrated French naturalist, 
 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 which, it is known 
 to live upon a plant called Terminalia alata glabra. 
 So that this grub has the advantage of being what 
 is termed Poly phytophagous, 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 tussah worm is much coarser 
 
SILK-PKODUCING INSECTS. 27 
 
 than that of the common silkworm, and of a darker 
 colour. With it are clothed 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 Mylitta, 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 larvse from starving in such cases, 
 is to cut branches from the oak and place 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 larvaB are birds, bats, ants, some 
 species of frog, serpents, and foxes, who enjoy 
 them exceedingly.* 
 
 * The fox will also eat beetles, and attack bees' nests for honey. 
 
28 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 The Arindy silkworm (Bombyx Cynthia), dis- 
 covered in Bengal, feeds upon the castor-oil plant 
 (Ricinus communis) . This curious plant, which in In- 
 dia and Africa is a large tree, becomes in our climate 
 a small herbaceous annual. The silk produced by 
 B. Cynthia is remarkably soft and glossy ; it cannot 
 be wound off the 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 comes forth in eighteen or 
 twenty days; but it is a general rule 'with insects 
 that the time they remain in the chrysalis state 
 depends upon the temperature. 
 
 The way in which many insects resist cold is 
 truly wonderful. Many larvae 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 which they remained for five 
 hours without being frozen, the thermometer of 
 Fahrenheit having fallen to 56 below zero, although 
 the liquid 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 Bombyx 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 prolific. 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 quill 
 from Paris, and these have multiplied 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 MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 fine, and to take dyes admirably. The cocoons 
 are carded and afterwards spun. It has been dis- 
 covered that the chrysalis in extricating itself from 
 the cocoon does not cut the thread as had been 
 asserted, and the French have partially succeeded 
 in unwinding the cocoons after the exit of the 
 moth. 
 
 The natural climate of B. Cynthia lies upon the 
 borders of the tropics, hence the difficulty ex- 
 perienced in keeping the insect during the winter 
 in European climates. It is spreading, however, 
 rapidly over the globe. The Governor of Malta 
 sent it to the West Indies in 1854. The French 
 have forwarded it to the Brazils, to the Southern 
 States of North America, and to Egypt. It has 
 likewise spread from Malta to Sicily, and 127,000 
 cocoons have recently been sent from Algeria to be 
 manufactured in Alsace. Although its natural food 
 is the cast or- oil plant, it will live and thrive, we are 
 told, upon the Fuller's teasel (Dipsacusfullonum). 
 
 Besides these varieties of silkworm, the members 
 of the Societe d' Acclimatization of Paris are about 
 to make experiments with other species, such as 
 Bombyx Bauhinia, B. Polypheme, 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-PEODUCING INSECTS. 31 
 
 Whyte Has forwarded cocoons to several establish- 
 ments. The product of this new insect is said to 
 be of a very superior kind ; and the insect is ex- 
 tremely abundant in that 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 larvso 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 chica. 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 of the grub, and coloured the cocoon mechanically 
 during its construction. This appears to be the 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-leaves, and 
 obtained blue cocoons ; he then experimented with 
 chica, 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. 
 
 Whatever 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-lidOj 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 affinity for silk ; it is extracted from several 
 species of Rhamnus, 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 pomiferum and P. 
 
SILK-PBODUCING INSECTS. 33 
 
 pyriferum ovate nests of caterpillars eight inclies 
 long formed of grey silk, which the inhabitants of 
 Chilpancinga, Tixtala, etc., in America, manufacture 
 into stockings and handkerchiefs. Great numbers 
 of similar nests of a dense tissue were observed by 
 Humboldt in the provinces of Mechoacan and the 
 mountains of Santa Rosa, at a height of 10,500 
 feet above the level of the sea, upon the Arbutus 
 madrono, and other trees. The silk of these nests 
 is produced by the larvae of Bombyx madrona, 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 clothes-moths (Tinea). Mr. 
 Habenstreet, of Munich, experimented some years 
 ago upon a species called Tinea punctata, or Tinea 
 padilla (Fig. 2), closely allied 
 to T. Evonymella ; the larvee of 
 the former were made to spin 
 upon a paper model suspended F I<*. 2.-Tinea paaaia 
 
 (Silk-spinning 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 were not intended to be covered. The investi- 
 gations showed that on an average two of these 
 larvas can produce a square inch of silk, and when 
 employed in great numbers their produce is astonish- 
 ing. Mr. Habenstreet succeeded thus in manufac- 
 turing an air-balloon about four feet in height, one 
 or two shawls, and a complete dress with sleeves, 
 without any seams. The tissue thus curiously 
 produced resembled the lightest 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 pundata was its exces- 
 sive lightness ; 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 Bombyx mori is imported in the raw state, 
 
SILK-PKODUCING INSECTS. 35 
 
 as spun by the insect, into Liverpool, at the rate of 
 about 57,000 Ibs. annually. Tussah silk from B. 
 Mylitta arrives in Liverpool from the East Indies in 
 quantities which vary from 2000 Ibs. to 12,000 Ibs. 
 per annum. 
 
Colour-producing Insects, 
 
 The Kermes Latreille and his genus Coccus Coccus 
 ilicis Crimson of the Romans tyussels and 
 Flemish tapestries Coccus polonicus Coccus of 
 the (Poterium Oooous uva-ursi The Cochineal 
 Coccus cacti (Plants on which the Cochineal lives 
 Jfopaleries Crrana sylvestra and Crrana fina 
 Bearing of Cochineal The Cochineal at Teneriffe 
 The Bluebottle Fly and the jQphides G-eneration 
 extraordinary Two new Cochineals in Australia. 
 Coccus fabce (or Jiphis fabce) in France Its 
 
 peculiar Coloiiringjtfattei Lac Carminium, its 
 
 discovery and properties The Colouring- J^Latter of 
 the Cochineal discovered in the Vegetable World 
 Carmine Influence of Light in the JVLanufacture of 
 Colours I^ouge for the face Ink The Cynips 
 Caprification (Dioecious (Plants Ripening of Figs 
 in the East Grail-nuts Cynips-galloe-tinctorioe 
 Theory of the Formation of Vegetable Tumours 
 Analysis of G-all-nuts Their products and Uses 
 Cynips quercus folii On the Formation of G-rease 
 by Animals Other Insects producing (Dyes jQphis 
 pini "J^oney- spiders" The J\dagenta (X>ye and 
 Cochineal. 
 
COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 
 
 COLOUR-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 little 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 qualifications, and many others are 
 ignored in a practical point of view. 
 
40 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 The Kermes (Coccus ilicis, Latr.) has been em- 
 ployed to impart a scarlet colour to cloth from the 
 earliest ages. It was known to the Phoenicians 
 under the name of Tola, to the Greeks as KoTtkos, 
 and to the Arabians and Persians as Kermes or 
 Alkermes (Al signifying the, as in the Arabian 
 words alkali, alchymy, etc.). In the Middle Ages 
 it received the epithet Vermiculatum, or " little 
 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 
 ver mill ion. 
 
 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 Reaumur in the tome iv. 
 of his "Memoires pour servir a I'Histoire 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 cocci/era, L., 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 with kermes dye, as with cpchineal, 
 the kermes is capable of imparting a scarlet quite 
 as brilliant as that produced by the 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 polonicus, 
 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 C. polonicus is found upon the roots of 
 SclerantJius perennis (perennial knarvel), 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 sanguisorba, an 
 insect formerly used by the Moors for dyeing silk 
 and wool a rose colour ; and the Coccus uva-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 
 
 f 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 
 C*L xa*r. as early as 1530, it required the labours 
 magnified), of 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. 
 
COLOUE-PEODUCING 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 coccinellifer, C. 
 opuntia, C. tuna } C. paresxia, etc. The first of 
 these is also called Opuntia coccinellifer a, 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 Linnaeus. 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. 
 
 hatched, and from whence the little cochineals soon 
 proceed. 
 
 The cultivation of the 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 lines, 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 (Nopaleros), from the 
 name of the plant, which is chiefly cultivated for 
 cochineal in Mexico. "We are told that the greatest 
 quantity of this insect employed 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 well 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 which 
 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 
 find. 
 
 Eeal cochineal is detected by the following cha- 
 racter : it is wrinkled, with parallel furrows 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 Menonville, 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 paresxia, 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 published, and may be consulted with, 
 profit by rearers of cochineal to this day.* 
 
 It was generally thought for a long time, and, 
 indeed, it is still believed by many, that the cochi- 
 neal derives its colour from the nopal on which it 
 lives, the flowers of which 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 opuntia is given to children, their urine 
 becomes of a lively red colour, and we shall see 
 presently that carm/inium, the colouring-matter of 
 cochineal, has been discovered in the vegetable 
 world, in a plant of the Orchidae 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 et de 1'Education de la 
 Cochenille dans les Colonies Francaises de 1'Amerique, precede d'un 
 Voyage a Guaxaca." Par M. Thieri de Menonville. " Annales de 
 Chimie," torn. v. 
 
COLOUK-PEODUCING INSECTS. 47 
 
 When preserved in a dry place, cochineal retains 
 its colour for an unlimited time. Hellot made ex- 
 periments with some dried cochineal that had 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 with 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 with rush mats, 
 
48 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 and the harvest is proportionately later. Much care 
 is required in the tedious operation of gathering the 
 cochineal from the cactus or nopal ; it is performed 
 with a squirrel's tail by the Indian women, who for 
 this purpose squat down for hours together beside 
 one plant. The insects are killed either by throw- 
 ing them into boiling 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 
 sterling, 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 1835," says he, in 
 the account of his astronomical observations in that 
 island, " that the years of the grape-vine of Tene- 
 riffe 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 cochineal there 
 from Honduras, he was looked upon as an eccentric 
 man, and his plantations were frequently destroyed 
 at night. However, when the grape disease broke 
 out, Orotava was gradually forsaken by vessels in 
 quest of wine which could no longer be supplied ; 
 and with starvation staring them in the face, the 
 inhabitants turned to cochineal growing : wherever 
 a cactus was seen upon the island, a little 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 Teneriffe, 
 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 
 
50 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 it is, therefore, essential to protect it from the 
 wet. 
 
 The cochineal grower must also scrupulously 
 avoid the mixing of different species of Coccus on the 
 plants ; even the wild variety (sylvestra) must be 
 kept away from the cultivated (fina), or the latter 
 will become thin and maladive, and breed a cross 
 variety, which is inferior in quality. After gather- 
 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- 
 paleries 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 hundred and seventy- three hun- 
 dred weight arrived. 
 
 Like the ' c Blue-bottle fly " and the Aphides 
 (or blight), the cochineal insects (Coccus) do not 
 always lay eggs like 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 deposit 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 solitude from the time of their 
 birth, and in a few days remarked that they brought 
 
52 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 forth young. He immediately placed tlie latter in 
 confinement, and observed them give birth to other 
 young aphides. By following up the experiments 
 he saw produced before his eyes nine generations 
 of aphides, successively born without the concourse 
 of the two sexes. But it had been certainly ascer- 
 tained that there exist male and female aphides, and 
 it was also given to Bonnet to observe their accou- 
 plement. In autumn he saw the little 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 
 (' Ann. des Sciences Naturelles," vol. xxx.) 
 
COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 53 
 
 neal insect renders interesting the discovery lately 
 made of two new species of cochineal, both natives 
 of Australia, which 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 Eucalyptus. 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 fabce, 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 fabce was discovered by M. Guerin Menne- 
 ville in the South of France. The discovery terrified 
 him not a little, for should Coccus fabce multiply under 
 favourable circumstances as rapidly as these kind of 
 insects usually do, it would become a disastrous 
 source of blight 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 produced, pronounced it to be a peculiar scarlet, 
 which, 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 colouring 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 fabce 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 (Abies nigra) in the 
 neighbourhood of Kingston. The new dye is very 
 similar to cochineal, but, unlike it, can be produced 
 in temperate climates. 
 
 I must here briefly 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 jujuba 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 carminium 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. Stick-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 ; shell-lac, 
 when strained and formed into trans- 
 parent plates. 
 
 Two other products are also brought 
 from India. They are chemical prepara- 
 tions for dyeing, called lac-lake and lac- 
 aye. 
 
 In the latter country lac is used to 
 
 Fro. 4. J 
 
 stick-iac. 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 varnishes, japanned ware, and sealing-wax, and 
 sometimes as a substitute for cochineal in dyeing 
 scarlet. Formerly large quantities of lac-lake pre- 
 cipitated from an alkaline solution of the resin by 
 alum, was manufactured in Calcutta and exported 
 to England. At present it is imported from the 
 East Indies in two forms. Shell, 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. 
 
 Carminium } the colouring matter of the cochi- 
 neal, is a very interesting substance. It was first 
 extracted from the Coccus cacti by Pelletier and 
 Caventou in 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 kerrnes 
 (Coccus ilids), 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 yield a much smaller proportion of 
 
COLOUK-PKODUCING INSECTS. 57 
 
 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 polonicusj 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 crystals. 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 
 Orchidse family, the Monarda didyma, L. This 
 plant, which has been known to horticulturists for 
 some time, is a native of North America. When 
 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 MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 time ago the author of this work thought he had 
 discovered carminium in the bark of the alder tree, 
 but it turned out to be another colouring matter, 
 still more interesting in a chemical point of view. 
 
 The colouring 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 
 alkaline 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 colours, 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- PEODUCING INSECTS. 59 
 
 actresses in Paris by the use of poisonous colours 
 containing lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic 
 principles. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 I shall now turn to gall insects, or Cynips, to 
 which we owe many useful products. 
 
 If ink were the 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 
 Cynips 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 caprification. 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 different 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 flowers,* the female fig-trees of the East are apt to 
 become sterile when removed from the immediate 
 vicinity of the male plants. On the other hand a 
 certain species of Cynips is known to abound in the 
 flowers of the latter ; so that to render their female 
 trees fertile, the Greeks imagined the process of 
 caprification, which consists in this : As soon as the 
 male flowers are in full bloom, they are cut off and 
 strung into garlands, which are hung upon the 
 branches of the female trees. The Cynips in their 
 passage from the male to the female flowers, carry 
 with them the pollen of the former, and so the con- 
 ditions of fertility are ensured. 
 
 There are many descriptions of gall-nuts, but 
 those which are mostly esteemed for industrial pur-, 
 poses are the gall-nuts of the East, exported chiefly 
 from Aleppo, Smyrna, etc. They are the product of 
 an insect first described by Olivier, and now gene- 
 rally known as Cynips gallce tinctorice. 
 
 When an insect of the Cynips kind is about, to 
 lay its eggs, it makes a slight incision in the leaves 
 of certain plants into which it deposits its eggs. 
 The sap of the plant thus wounded flows rapidly to 
 this spot a separate incision is made for each egg 
 and in course of time a small excrescence is 
 formed. The eggs hatch and the new-born larvce 
 
 * There are two apparent exceptions to this rule, namely, the 
 C&lobogyne, or batchelor plant, and Hemp. 
 
COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 61 
 
 nourish themselves on the tissue of the excrescences, 
 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 larvae, 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 
 
 "Reaumur 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 tinctorice, 
 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 gallic acid is indispensable for 
 
62 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 photography : by the action of heat it is converted 
 into pyrogallic acid, which is still more useful to 
 photographers. By mixture with salts of iron they 
 produce ink and black dyes, and tincture of galls is 
 a reagent constantly employed in chemical labora- 
 tories. 
 
 These gall-nuts are found upon the leaves of an 
 oak tree (Quercus infectoridj L.) The little red 
 oak balls found in our oak leaves are owed to the 
 Gynips quercusfolii (Fig. 5) ; they also can be em- 
 
 FIG. 5. a, Foreign galls ; b, 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 Naturelles 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 problem : 
 
COLOUR-PRODUCING INSECTS. 63 
 
 As grease exists in the vegetable as well as in the 
 animal world, it was an interesting question to know 
 whether animals derived their fat wholly from vege- 
 tables, or whether this substance could be formed in 
 the animal body. The vegetable tumours in which 
 the larvas of the Cynips 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. 
 Linnaeus also speaks of the tinctorial properties of 
 Aphis pini, an insect common in our climate, and 
 which produces a sort of gall-nut at the extremities 
 of the spruce fir. When these galls have attained 
 their maturity, says he, 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 wax y an observation which Huber had 
 already made many years before. 
 
64 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 yellow powder, which stains the clothes. A tree 
 common enough in India, and which is called Ter- 
 minalia citrina, yields a sort of gall, which serves in 
 that country as a dye j to it indeed the natives owe 
 their best and most durable yellow colour. It is 
 produced by a hitherto unknown insect. Among 
 the little " money- spiders " (Trombidium) which 
 attract the attention of children in the garden about 
 spring, Trombidium tinctorium is used in Guinea 
 and Surinam as a dye. 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 turned 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 will not mate- 
 rially affect that of cochineal. 
 
Insects producing Wax, Eesin, Honey, Manna, 
 
 Chinese Coccus which produces a kind of Spermaceti 
 Value of its (Produce White Lac Insects pro- 
 ducing J^esin G-rey-wax Insect of Sumatra (Details 
 concerning- the wax Coccits Ijees -jlpis mellifica 
 Its native country Virgil -JvLodern jluthors who 
 have written on Fjees -fipis lig-ustica -fi. amal- 
 thea and its curious Jfests Ijamburos jtpis uni- 
 color G-reen Honey of Bourbon JE^ock-honey of 
 JTorthjlmerica -jlpis fas data -fl. indica -jl.jldan- 
 sonii -Jl swarm of Ijees ^he Queen, J&ales, and 
 Workers -Jtfathematics of the Ijee-cell Bilk pro- 
 duced ~by I)ees (Production of Wax How Honey is 
 procured (Plants favourable to Ijees (Duration of life 
 in Ijees Enemies and J&aladies Chloroforming- 
 Ijees -JVLr. J^utt's Hives (Profit derived from Ijee- 
 culture J^Tew modes of (Preserving- Ijees during- 
 winter (Periodical transportation of Hives How to 
 discover Ijees' Jfests -JTew species of I$ee at Sydney 
 ees as Instruments of War Honey, its JVature 
 and Composition jlrtifioial Honey from Wood, 
 Starch, etc. Joanna and the Coccus JAaniparua 
 Wax Its Jfature, Composition, and Uses. 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, 
 
 MANNA. 
 
 must again turn to the genus Coccus, to 
 speak of a species of wax-producing in- 
 sect which is attracting particular atten- 
 v Lvy 
 taT tion in France at this moment. This will 
 
 be better understood when it is known 
 that the French pay four millions of francs 
 annually for wax ; and the Coccus of which I speak 
 produces about ten millions of francs 5 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 tumours 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 produced 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 the natives at the 
 beginning of September. The quantity produced 
 in China alone is, according to Geomelli Careri, 
 sufficient to supply the 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 luddum, 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 
 acclimatization of this insect in France becomes an 
 exceedingly interesting problem. It appears pro- 
 bable, from observations we already possess, that the 
 Chinese spermaceti Coccus is 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 formerly described as white lac a substance 
 similar to the white wax of the Chinese Coccus, and 
 
 * This Chinese wax must not be confounded with that called 
 vegetable wax, produced by palms and by several species of Myrica, 
 etc. (On these see Cook in the " Technologist," London, June, 1861.) 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 69 
 
 which, lie said, could be produced in any quantity, 
 near Madras, at a much 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 (Palms, and Myrica, and Rhus 
 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 the French Exhibition of 
 1855, but we have as yet no details concerning the 
 insect that produces it. 
 
 All the insects of the genus Coccus contain a 
 considerable amount of grease, from which stearine, 
 the element of our modern ' ' wax- candle s," has been 
 extracted ; moreover, Berzelius extracted from 
 Coccus polonicus the acids which are contained in 
 butter ; and it is probable that butyric acid exists in 
 the whole genus. 
 
 The latest information we have concerning the 
 spermaceti Coccus of the Chinese we owe to M. 
 Stanislas Jullien, who ascertained in 1840 that these 
 insects were cultivated indefatigably by the Chinese, 
 on three different sorts of plants, with equal suc- 
 cess ; namely, the plant they call nint-cliing, which 
 M. Brogniart tells us is the Rhus succedanea ; the 
 tong-tsing, which Thunberg says is Ligustrum gla- 
 brum ; and the goukin, a plant which grows in damp 
 places, and is probably the Hibiscus Syriacus, 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 young insects, according to M. Stanislas Jul- 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 71 
 
 lien, are hatched from eggs of a considerable size, 
 and cover the trees about June. They are soon ob- 
 served to secrete a sort of viscous liquid, which 
 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 
 succedanea, 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 already 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 hives, which were being transported 
 from a region where the season for flowers had 
 passed, to one where the summer was later. 
 
 Our domestic hive-bee (Apis 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 
 
 FlG> 6 ffi4 P ber ellifiea perfection among the ancient 
 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 Yirgil 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, Needham, Kirby, 
 Swammerdam, Kirby and Spence, Mills, Thorley, 
 Hunter, Keys, Bonner, Schiroch, Bevan, etc., etc. 
 
 Apis mellifica, the domestic bee, reared in hives, 
 is the same throughout Europe, except in some parts 
 of Italy, the Morea, and some of the Grecian isles, 
 where another species is cultivated, the Apis ligus- 
 tica (?) of Spinola. The domestic bee ( A. mellifica) 
 is found wild in the forests of Russia, and some 
 parts of Asia, where it builds its nests in hollow 
 trees. Another kind of bee, the Apis amalthea of 
 Latreille, is found at Cayenne, where it builds curi- 
 ously-shaped nests upon the tops of high trees; 
 these nests are something like a bagpipe. They are 
 seen also in South America, and furnish large quan- 
 tities of honey, but this honey, though very sweet 
 and agreeable, is very liquid and difficult to keep, as 
 it easily ferments. 
 
 Another species of wild bee, which has been 
 called Bamburos, is very plentiful in the woods of 
 Ceylon, where it is eaten as a delicacy, though it 
 furnishes a considerable harvest of honey to the 
 peasants. 
 
 In the Ukraine some of the country people, we are 
 told, derive more profit from the sale of their honey 
 than from their corn; some peasants keeping as many 
 as 500 hives each. The Indians of Paraguay, the 
 natives of the Isle of Bourbon, of Madagascar, etc., 
 
74 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 live, to a great extent, upon the honey of the bee. 
 The honey exported from the Isle of Bourbon is the 
 product of Apis unicolor, Latreille ; it is of a green 
 colour and oily consistency, and has an aromatic 
 flavour. 
 
 In North 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 Niebuhr 
 met upon the Nile 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 WAX, KESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 75 
 
 Until very recently,* nearly the whole of the 
 wax employed in Europe, and most of that con- 
 sumed in America, was the produce of the hive 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, 
 which have no sex. Aristotle used to call the chief 
 of the hive the king-bee. 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 larvas state, being fed upon a small allowance 
 of food, and bred in small cells, its growth is 
 impeded, its ovaries avort, 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 hours 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. Keaumur says 
 that upon an average she will 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 swarming 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 are larger than 
 the others. She receives a particular kind of nourish- 
 
INSECTS PEODUCTNG WAX,, KESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 77 
 
 ment while in the 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 larvae 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 hive; 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.f 
 
 Lord Brougham, in a paper read at the Paris 
 Academy (May, 1858), asserts that the cells of the 
 larvaa 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. 
 
 f See Kirby and Spence, loc cit> p. 273. 
 
78 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 by Thorley in 1744, and afterwards by Huber, who 
 described the organs, situated on each side of the 
 abdomen, which secrete the wax in the shape of 
 thin plates. 
 
 Honey, on the 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. When the insect is laden it returns to 
 the hive, and disgorges the honey into cells which 
 are destined to receive it. 
 
 Plants which are peculiarly adapted to the bee 
 are species of EcMum, Borago, Verbascum, 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 j 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. j and 
 hence arises the different flavours and qualities 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, will not be touched by 
 the bee. But a few cases are on record of bees 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, EESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 79 
 
 gathering poisonous honey, and causing extensive 
 mortality among those who eat it. 
 
 The duration of the life of bees has been a sub- 
 ject of controversy. Yirgil and Pliny say seven 
 years, other writers ten ; but of the five hundred 
 bees which Eeaumur marked with red paint in the 
 month of April, not one was living 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 Vives, 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 the bees appear hostile, he will 
 do well to stoop down. Liquid ammonia is em- 
 ployed with success to cure the effects of their 
 sting. 
 
 Mr. Nutt's system of hive 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 burning 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 fumes act upon 
 animals like chloroform, as Dr. Richardson 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 lighted. 
 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 PKODUCING WAX, BESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 81 
 
 operation is best performed at about four o' clock in 
 the afternoon. When the 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 realize 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, wax, 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 Observa- 
 
 G 
 
82 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 tions sur les Abeilles," by H. Huber, of Geneva ; 
 " Les Nouvelles Observations," by the same author, 
 noted by P. Huber; also the works of Reaumur, 
 and those of the English 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 preserved throughout the winter hives which 
 otherwise 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 Rheims. His process 
 consists in burying 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 following, 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 proved 
 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 flowers first in the former 
 district. At this time, according to Kirby, bee- 
 
84 UTILIZATION OP MINDTE LIFE. 
 
 hives are transported in boats from all parts of 
 Egypt into the upper district, and are then 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 transportation 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 : Whilst 
 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 off 
 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 bulletin of the Paris " Societe d' Acclima- 
 tization" for 1856 announces the discovery of a new 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 85 
 
 species of bee (Apis) at Sydney. It inhabits the 
 hollow 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 liquid 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 considerable quantity, such are, for instance, the 
 trumpet-honeysuckle, whose sugar is out of the bee's 
 reach, and the C oboe a scandens, each flower of 
 which contains almost enough 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 evaporation some 
 crystals of cane-sugar. The Rhododendron ponticum 
 and the Cactus Akermanni were found to contain so 
 notable a proportion that one corolla of the latter 
 gave as much as one-tenth of a gramme of crystal- 
 lized cane sugar. It is evident, therefore, that this 
 cane-sugar of flowers is converted 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 linen bag it may then be separated into a white 
 solid sugar called grape sugar, as it is found in 
 grapes and raisins and a thick semi-fluid syrup, 
 called liquid 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 which it is 
 much prized. Such is the case with the 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 liydromel, a sort of vinous liquid 
 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 aliment ; 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 this, as we have seen, is the 
 composition of honey. This discovery is owed to 
 Braconnot. 
 
 Mannite, the sweet principle of manna, has been 
 found, 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- 
 parus. But it is essentially a vegetable product, 
 
 FIG. 7. Tamarix mannifera (Manna-bearing Tamarix). 
 1. Shrub twelve feet high. 2. Branch with fruit. 
 
 being obtained from the sap of the ash tree (Frax- 
 inus ornus, F. rotundifolia, etc.). The little 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 is a common product of the animal 
 
INSECTS PRODUCING WAX, RESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 89 
 
 economy. Besides the different varieties of ash, 
 the tamarix, and seaweeds,* a sort of manna is pro- 
 duced in Australia and Yan Diemen's Land by the 
 Eucalyptus resinifera. At certain seasons of the year 
 a sweet substance exudes from the leaves of this 
 tree, and dries in the sun, and when the wind blows 
 hard enough to shake the trees, the manna falls like 
 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 manniparus infests this tree, from 
 which the manna exudes as a thick syrup, 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 paper in 
 <l Comptes Kendus," Paris, 1st Dec., 1856. 
 
90 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 I must refer my readers. We have 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 differs 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 boiling 
 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 
 Mellipona, 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. 
 
Insects Employed in Medicine, or as Pood, and otter 
 Insects useful to Man, 
 
 Spanish Flies Cantharides Their J\/fedical (Properties 
 Cantharidine Cantharides in (Poitou (Different 
 Species of Cantharides (Discovery of Cantharidine 
 injrfeloe The ]\^eloe, or Oil fjeetle -JVLetamorphoses 
 ofjvleloe and Sitaris Cetonia jfturata Ooccinella 
 Trehala Ifaprestis jlnts Formic andJVLalicjlcids 
 in Jints (Production of J\ilk from the Eg-g-s of Jlnts 
 ftnts which collect (Precious Stones 'dCermes as an 
 Article of Food, etc. Locusts and Oicadcs -jlcrydium 
 misrratoriu'm, ^he Ethiopian jlcrydophag-hi Ci- 
 cada septemdecim, ^ug-s and Fleas Southey 
 (Phtirophag-hi ftranea edulis Centipedes The 
 Jvfexican Ijoat Flies Beetle used for Soap Calan- 
 dra granaria (Presence of Tannic and G-allic jlcids 
 in this Beetle Fire Flies Truffle Flies The Com- 
 mon House Fly, etc. Remarkable Action of Lig-ht 
 upon Animal Life Grrowth of Insects under the 
 Influence of differently Coloured Lig-ht. 
 
INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OR AS 
 FOOD, AND OTHER INSECTS USEFUL 
 
 TO MAN. 
 
 of the most important insects, in a medical 
 point of view, is the beetle called Spanish 
 fly (Cantharides) y of which there are many 
 species, all dangerous poisons. They are 
 employed outwardly for their blistering and 
 exciting properties, and inwardly, for various dis- 
 orders, as an energetic stimulant. 
 
 Their poisonous action manifests itself by violent 
 irritation of the membranes of the stomach and 
 intestines. The vesicatory or blistering property of 
 these beetles is owing to Cantharidine, a principle 
 extracted from them by Robiquet, and studied by 
 Gmelin. They contain also a peculiar volatile oil, 
 mentioned by Orfila, but of which little is yet 
 known, except that it appears to be this oil which 
 gives Cantharides 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 other principle as yet 
 unknown, as Schroff has lately shown. 
 
 M. Babinet has informed me that in some 
 parts of France, more especially in Poitou, ash-trees 
 are never planted, because the quantity of Cantha- 
 rides that breed upon these trees soon becomes 
 intolerable to the inhabitants of the district. 
 
 In our climate, Cantharides are to be found upon 
 the lilac, the privet, and some other shrubs. They 
 are very plentiful in Spain (hence their 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 Cantharides 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 antennae or horns. In America, 
 two 'other species, namely, Cantharides cinerea and 
 C. viitata, being extremely common and noxious 
 insects, are more frequently used than C. vesicatoria. 
 In India, C. 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 Myldbris, a genus closely allied to Cantharides. 
 
 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 OE AS FOOD. 95 
 
 Our readers are probably all acquainted with, the 
 Meloe proscarabeceus (Fig. 8), or oil-beetle. It 
 derives its name from the 
 fact that, when taken into 
 the hand or otherwise irri- 
 tated, it secretes a fragrant 
 oily fluid, to which have 
 
 been attributed the most FlG 8 _ Melog proscarabeffius 
 wonderful qualities; amongst 
 
 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 spring, Meloe proscara- 
 beceus 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 
 Cantharadine in insects belonging to this genus 
 Meloe, which is closely allied to the genus Gantha- 
 rides, more so, indeed, than that of Myldbris, 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 known some facts relating to 
 Meloe and the allied genera Siiaris, which are so 
 
96 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 curious that I think they may safely be related 
 here : 
 
 The insects belonging to the two genera, Meloe and 
 Sitaris, together perhaps with the whole tribe, are, 
 in their early stages of life, parasitical insects, living 
 upon the bodies of certain honey -making Hymen- 
 optera. From M. Fabre's account, it appears that 
 their larvce, before arriving at the pupa or chrysalis 
 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 larva, 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 offspring 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-chrysalis 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, OE 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 
 become's 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 Pliny, and which 
 plays such an ingenious part in the tale of Edgar 
 Poe. Such again are the Coccinella, 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 Treliala, 
 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 Curculio, and named Larinas nidificans. This 
 insect lives on the branches of a shrub, a species of 
 Echinops. 
 
 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 MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 with a small quantity of some bitter principle, and 
 mineral salts. In the East this substance is as much 
 used as salep or tapioca. It was first noticed in 
 Syria. When 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, Buprestis vittata, are occasionally imported 
 from Calcutta to Liverpool, They have a bright 
 metallic green lustre, and are employed to ornament 
 KJius-hhus baskets, fans, etc., and on muslins to 
 enrich the embroidery. Khus-khus or vitiver is the 
 dried root or rhizome of a grass, Andropogon muri- 
 catus (Hetzius). This sweet-scented root arrives 
 here now and then from India. It is made into 
 baskets, fans, mats, sachets for the wardrobe, etc. ; 
 which are often most sumptuously decorated with 
 the wings of Buprestis 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 proportion 
 
 * By distilling starch with dilute sulphuric acid and peroxide of 
 manganese. 
 
INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OE AS FOOD. 99 
 
 of malic acid, an acid first discovered in the 
 apple. 
 
 Certain large ants, called Qupia, 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 pressure, the chemist John produced a kind 
 of milk resembling a mixture of milk and chocolate. 
 This liquid, 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 brilliant stones for this 
 
100 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 purpose, and these 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 white ants 
 (Termes) which belong to the family of Neuroptera 
 (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 Government has lately applied to the Entomological 
 Society to know the best means of destroying the white ants which 
 infest 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, OE 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 
 ruast 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 Acrydium migratorium 
 (Fig. 9), 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 Egyptians, 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 from 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 prevailed for many centuries, 
 for Diodores tells us that from this circumstance 
 was derived the denomination of Acrydophaghi, or 
 eaters of locusts, given to some Ethiopian tribes.* 
 
 Locusts belong to the family of Orth&pt&ra. 
 
 Cicada, another race of insects belonging to the 
 family of Hemiptera (or bugs), were formerly em- 
 ployed as an article of food. 
 
 Aristotle, Aristophanes, Athenaeus, and ^Elian 
 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 species known as Cicada septemdecim, 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 
 suffer from flies. The fire-fly (Elater noctilucd) 
 should be imported into Spain to destroy mos- 
 quitoes. In hot countries a reward should be offered 
 to the man who could discover what insects feed 
 upon fleas." 
 
 It is well known that cockroaches (Blatta Ameri- 
 cana) destroy bugs, and when a house is infested 
 with one of these noxious insects, it is rare that the 
 other will 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 relished by the 
 natives of New Caledonia this spider is about an 
 inch long ; it is roasted over the fire. 
 
 Humboldt has seen Indian children drag from 
 the earth centipedes eighteen inches long (probably 
 Spirostreptus olivaceus or S. 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, Notonecta. 
 These eggs also contribute to the formation of a 
 certain oolitic 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 great 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 dry, after which they are 
 ground like flour, placed in sacks, and sold to the 
 inhabitants, who make with this flour a peculiar kind 
 of cake called liaulte. 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 ; they 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. 
 
 The insects whose eggs are taken to produce this 
 Mexican flour are of three species. Two of these 
 belong to the genus Corixu of Geoffrey ; the first 
 was described in 1831, by Thomas Say, under the 
 name of Corixa mercenaries ; 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 Notonecta unifasciata ; this is 
 a larger insect. 
 
 We have heard of a beetle called Chlcenius sapo- 
 naris (or Carabus saponarius 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 gallic 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Fire-flies (Elater), of which I have spoken at 
 length in my work on Phosphorescence, are employed 
 in some countries as lights, as ornaments, and to 
 kill mosquitoes. 
 
 A dipterous insect, belonging to the genus 
 Stomoxys, has been spoken of by the Abbe Moigno, 
 formerly editor of the " Cosmos/' a French periodical, 
 as capable of producing truffles, hence it has been 
 termed mouche trufigene, or the truffle-producing fly. 
 But this subject, which was brought forward by M. 
 Ravel, is an illusion : the persons alluded to thinking 
 that the truffle 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 life/' yet the larvae of these insects nourish 
 
INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE; OE AS FOOD. 107 
 
 themselves upon animal matters which 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. carnaria, 
 and M. Ccesar have their uses. Some flies (the 
 Blue-bottle, etc.), as I have already stated, give 
 birth to larvae 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 Kedi 
 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 Linnseus, that three individuals of La- 
 treille's Musca vomitaria 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 that differently coloured light, or, in other terms, 
 the different rays of the solar spectrum, have a very 
 different influence upon the development of young 
 animals, on the hatching of eggs of insects, the 
 growth of larvae, 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 
 Candolle, Carradori, Knight, Payer, Macaire, and 
 some others, made manifest the action of light 
 upon vegetable respiration, absorption, exhalation, 
 etc. ; 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 
 daylight, 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 Royal So- 
 ciety," 1862 ; where some experiments of Edwards are refuted. 
 
INSECTS EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE, OE AS EOOD. 109 
 
 Later still, M. Berard took a certain quantity of 
 eggs of the fly (Musca Ocesar) ; lie divided them 
 into separate groups, and placed them under different 
 coloured glass jars. In four or five days, the larvce 
 produced under the blue 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, yellow, 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 through differently 
 coloured glass, upon the development of infusorial life, 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 blue and red glass infusoria 
 were 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Nothing would be easier than to select a portion 
 of some silkworm establishment for the experiment, 
 and to furnish this section of the building with 
 violet-coloured windows. It would indeed be in- 
 teresting to see these w'o?e-coloured panes become 
 as necessary to the silk breeders as the yellow win- 
 dow is essential to the photographer. In the former 
 instance the violet would serve to allow the chemical 
 rays of light 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. 
 
Crustacea, 
 
 Artificial (Propagation practicable with Crustacea as 
 with Fish The Common Lobster Laws of Regene- 
 ration The Crawfish Curious (Discoveries relating- 
 to the Young- of these Animals (Phyllosoma Zo'ea 
 ^Metamorphosis among- Crustacea (Praniza and 
 jinceus Larvce of Lobsters The Colouring- JWatter 
 of Lobsters, Crawfish, etc. Composition of a Lobster- 
 shell Shrimps Crang-on vulg-aris >C. boreas, Sa- 
 binea septemcarinata, and other Shrimps (Prawns 
 (Palemon carcinus and (P. jamaicensis Other 
 Species of (Prawns Ijopyrus crang-orum The Iso- 
 poda The Family of Crabs Cancer pag-urus C. 
 
 mosnas (Pinnotheres (Pag-urus " (Diogenes" 
 
 Land-crabs Thelphusa fluviatilis Crabs of the 
 g-enus G-ecarcinus Their wonderful Emigrations 
 I^irgus latro, or the Robber Crab Quantity of fat 
 it produces Concluding- remarks on this Family. 
 
CRUSTACEA. 
 
 NOW leave the 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, crawfish, crabs, shrimps, etc., will here 
 demand our attention, and will furnish 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 OF 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 earlier 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 fluviatilis) 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 
 organs ; it is observed to a wonderful extent in 
 
fl 
 
CEUSTACEA. 117 
 
 polyps, sea- anemones, worms, snails, lobsters, 
 lizards, and even in some fish. 
 
 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 the animal will sometimes throw it off of his 
 own accord.* Any violent shock to the 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 that 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 1'Ecre- 
 visse." (Mem. de 1'Acad. 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 lizards a class still higher are cnt 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 whole body ! 
 
 The mouth of the lobster, like 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 d'ecrevisses 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 j 
 
CRUSTACEA. 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 live 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 (Astacus 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 acrra/co? in his 
 
120 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 History of Animals. The common crawfish thrives 
 best in rivers, in holes in the banks, and under 
 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 live 
 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 different 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 curions 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 
 publication of Professor Thomson's observations, 
 we have, in the order of Entomostraca, examples of 
 generation equal to that we mentioned in speaking 
 of the Aphides in a preceding chapter. M. Hasse 
 has also shown that the curious creatures known as 
 Prdniza are only larvce of Anceus, so that metamor- 
 phosis is doubtless as active in Crustaceans as in 
 Insects. 
 
 It is now an established 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 distinct animals, under the name of Pliyllosoma, 
 and that crabs' eggs produce larvae 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 Jar din 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 
 
CEUSTACEA. 123 
 
 when exposed to a heat of 70 (centigrade), 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 alcoholic 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, alkalis, 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 prm*. 
 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. 
 
 Shrimps resemble lobsters and crawfish to a 
 certain extent ; they have been subdivided by 
 naturalists into many distinct groups. 
 
 The Crangon vulgaris is our common shrimp, 
 which, according to Pennant, is the most delicious 
 of all Crustaceans. 
 
 In the Arctic Seas we have two other descrip- 
 tions of shrimps, namely, C. boreas and Sabinia 
 septemcarinata, 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 
 diffused. 
 
 Besides shrimps, we have also numerous species 
 of prawns, shrimp -like Crustaceans belonging to the 
 genus P alemon, well-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, 
 
CEUSTACEA. 125 
 
 P. squilla and P. varians, which both differ a little 
 from the former. 
 
 There is a kind of shrimp belonging probably 
 also to the genus Palemon, and which is about seven 
 inches long; it is very common at the mouths of 
 rivers in Florida. Leba has called it the American 
 crawfish, but it is probably the Palemon setiferus 
 (Olivier) of naturalists. 
 
 Shrimps and their allies are the principal sca- 
 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 Bopyrus 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 lifting this part of the shell, the para- 
 site will be discovered immediately under it, upon 
 the branchiae or gills. These little beings belong 
 to the family of Isopoda. The species which live 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 larvae of some other 
 
126 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Crustacean perhaps of the prawn itself. Be that 
 as it may, the section of Isopoda 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 pagurus, L.) is taken upon 
 the rocky 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 the shells of mussels. Other small 
 species inhabit the shells of other living mollusca. 
 
 The Hermit Crab (Pagurus 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 (Bucdnum undu- 
 latum). There are many species of Pagurus that 
 live 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 delicate 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 endeavour 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 Eendus," Paris 
 Academy, 1858, and again in the same publication for 1861. 
 
128 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 But some of the most useful and most remark- 
 able of crabs are undoubtedly the land crabs, which 
 belong to the genera Thelplmsa and Gecarcinus. 
 Of the former some live far away from the ocean, 
 under damp stones in the woods ; others, such as 
 T.fiuviatilis (Fig. 11), which would be taken by a 
 
 FIG. 11. Thelphusa fluviatilis (European land-crab) . 
 
 casual observer for a small common crab, burrows 
 in the earth on the banks of rivers. This animal is 
 about two and a half inches long, and of a yellowish 
 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 likewise found in the 
 
CRUSTACEA. 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 line, 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 upon 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 OP 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 writer, Bernardin de St. Pierre, in 
 his "Etudes de la Nature," speaks of these land 
 crabs thus : 
 
 "II 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 Birgus latro, or robber crab (Fig. 12), is 
 another terrestrial species, and is sought for as 
 food in certain countries. 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 
 
 * Buffon says, that " to intimidate their enemies, they 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 (Bobber Crab individual capable of producing 
 one quart of oil). 
 
CEUSTACEA. 133 
 
 to be the first who studied this remarkable crab, 
 and to his accounts we are referred by Rumphius, 
 Seba, Linna3us, and Cuvier. The Indians say that 
 these robber crabs can live upon cocoa-nuts, and 
 that they make their excursions during the 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 Keeling 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 live 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 MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 crab, and light himself 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 relinquish, are all oviparous, 
 and have separate sexes ; therefore artificial breeding 
 and cultivation of any of their species would pro- 
 bably 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. 
 
CEPHALOPODA. 
 
 India, and China Ink Fossil ink-hag's Octopus vul- 
 garis ^he colour " Sepia" Sepia qfficinalis > or 
 " Cuttlefish" Guttle-bone Loligo vulgaris Edible 
 Cuttlefish Chemical nature of their Colour 'Nau- 
 tilus -Jlrgonauta Garinaria. 
 
 GASTEROPODA. 
 
 ^he Syrian purple Curious properties of the colouring 
 matter of Sea-snails -JVLurex brandaris (Purpura 
 lapillus Helix fragilis Tcundincu fragilis (Pur- 
 pura patella -JVLurex truncatus Experiments with 
 American Sea-snails Colour furnished by Whelks 
 Ijuccinum -Influence of light upon the production of 
 their colour Process used by the ancients to dye pur- 
 ple Uric acid in Grasteropoda -JVLurexide Snails 
 that are reared for food, etc. Helix pomatia Snail 
 gardens H. aspersa H. horticola jlrion rufus 
 Chemical Jlnaly sis of Snails Limacine Helicine 
 Uric acid in H. pomatia (-Turbo littoreus, or (Peri- 
 winkle Haliotis Snails used as money Gyprcea 
 moneta Other species of Gyproea " Love- shells" 
 
136 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Conus Oliva Ovula Strombus gig-as Cassis 
 ^urbinella Jvturex Ijuccinum Curious experi- 
 ments with Snails Slugs Limax maximius L. 
 ag-restis. 
 
 BIVALYE-MOLLUSCA. 
 
 J^Lytilus edulis, or common Jtfussel Its culture, eto. 
 Hurtful at certain seasons -J&. choros -JVL. Jdagel- 
 lanicus -J&. arcaJtf. lithophag-us Ostrea edulis, 
 or common Oyster (Details concerning- its artificial 
 breeding- and propag-ation, etc. -Acclimatisation of 
 Jtfollusca Fishing- on the (Plessix bed Spondylus 
 Qardium edule, or Cockle Solen (Pecten maximus 
 '-Cellina 'dCridacna g-ig-as Chama Cameos 
 Stone Cameos and Shell Qameos Chinese Cameos 
 (Pearl-oysters -jlvicula marg-aritifera Ji. frimbriata 
 j5. sterna (Pearl Fishery Its extent QPearls of 
 JVLytillus edulis Jlnodontes Unio pictorum Unio 
 marg-aritiferus C^blture of the Fresh-water (Pearl- 
 JVLussel -Artificial modes of causing- it to produce 
 pearls (Pinna (-Their silky byssus and its uses 
 ^heir pearls Other itsec of shells Tunicata and 
 Fjryozoa. 
 
MOLLUSCA. 
 
 the first order of Mollusca, that of Cephalo- 
 poda, 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, Cepha- 
 lopoda, 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 like the beak of a parrot, and is surrounded 
 by long fleshy tentacles or arms (often termed feet), 
 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 Cephalopoda 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 instantaneously, as numerous observations 
 show. They walk upon the bottom of the ocean, 
 head downwards, making use of their tentacles 
 as feet. 
 
 The different varieties of Cuttlefish are provided 
 with a very peculiar organ, generally known as 
 ' ' the ink-bag" a purse-like sac filled with a dark- 
 coloured liquid, which is secreted by a special 
 gland. When 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 ink; but the latter often owes its 
 colour to the charcoal of burnt cork, or to common 
 lampblack mixed with glue. 
 
 The drawings 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 ! 
 f( In the lower Jura formations" (the lias of Lyme 
 Kegis), says Humboldt, " the ink-bag of the Sepia 
 
MOLLUSCA. 139 
 
 has been so wonderfully preserved that the material 
 which, 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 vulgaris (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 English as the Eight- armed Cuttle or 
 Poulp, 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 offidnalis), whose 
 shell or bone is often thrown upon our coasts by 
 the waves, is probably well known to our readers. 
 * " Comptes Eendus of the Acad. des Sc.," Paris, July, 1856. 
 
140 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Its bone, which supports the soft parts of the 
 animal's body, is employed to polish ivory and bone 
 objects, to prepare tooth-powder, and for a host of 
 minor uses. It is known in the shops 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 like a pen, whence 
 this and other allied species are sometimes called 
 Pen-fish. Loligo vulgaris is common on our coasts. 
 The colour 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* 
 Cephalopoda 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 
 Cephalopoda ; 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 them from those possessed of shells (Nautilus, 
 etc.) 
 
MOLLUSCA. 141 
 
 is considered nutritious. They are not eaten in 
 Britain, but in other countries the Cuttlefish is 
 sometimes sought 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 Melaine. 
 
 About 12 cwt. of cuttle-bone (of Sepia 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 ink. 
 Imitation Indian ink is made of cork charcoal, 
 soot, etc., as I have already observed. 
 
 Besides these naked Cephalopoda, there are some 
 which possess very splendid shells : such are the 
 
142 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Nautilus and the beautiful Argonauta, or Paper 
 Nautilus,, which is not unfrequently seen, on calm 
 days, gliding softly on the surface of the blue Medi- 
 terranean, and of which Pliny, Buffon, and others 
 have given such poetical descriptions. Their shells 
 are sought for as ornaments. Other species, such 
 as certain rare Carinaria, produce magnificent shells, 
 which sell at a high price for drawing-room orna- 
 ments. 
 
 The Nautilus pompilius, according to some natu- 
 ralists, is seen floating on the waters of the Atlantic 
 between the tropics; the Argonauta Argo on the 
 Mediterranean; the Carinaria fragilis also inhabits 
 the Atlantic; whilst 0. vitrea, a rare species, is 
 chiefly found in the South Seas. 
 
 In the second order of Mollusca, named Gaste- 
 ropoda, we have some very interesting, useful, and 
 ornamental animals. To save space and time required 
 for minute description, the common Garden Snail 
 or Slug may be taken as an example of the order 
 of Gasteropoda. 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 purple. This magnificent 
 
MOLLUSCA. 143 
 
 colour, only worn by kings and nobles, was the 
 produce of a sea-snail. 
 
 Many rather marvellous tales have been related 
 concerning the origin of this purple dye of the 
 ancients. At the present time, all that appears to 
 be known with certainty is, that its discovery was 
 made at Tyre, and that it was produced by certain 
 sea-snails. Some writers assure us that the species 
 which furnished the colour were Murex brandaris 
 and Purpura lapiUus (Fig. 13) ; of which the first 
 
 FIG. 13. Purpura lapillus (Purple-producing Whelk). 
 
 produced the finest and most expensive colour, and 
 the latter, which is as common on the English 
 coasts as upon those of the Mediterranean, is a kind 
 of whelk. 
 
 The liquid 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 pale 
 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 At the meeting of the Jerusalem Literary 
 Society, held November 14, 1857, Dr. Eoth, of 
 Munich, gave the results of his researches upon the 
 ancient Tyrian purple dye. He shows that in the 
 works of Pliny and Aristotle the names of Bucdnum, 
 Murex, and Conchylia are so vaguely used, that 
 nothing on this subject can be learned from them. 
 Hasselquist, according to Dr. Both, 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. Eoth first came to Palestine, he found at Jaffa 
 the Purpura patula, the snail of which is sought by 
 the native Christians as food during the fast-days. 
 On puncturing this animal there issued a greenish 
 liquid, 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-purple, 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 Purpura. One of these Murex is suffi- 
 cient to dye a square inch of cloth, which would 
 require five individuals of Purpura patula. Wool 
 takes the dye better than any other substance ; silk 
 
MOLLUSCA. 145 
 
 takes it with difficulty. Dr. Roth, appears to have 
 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. Long ago, Thomas Gage 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 (Bucdnum), 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 
 brandaris, and found it to be identical in properties 
 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 eleventh century, at which epoch 
 it still existed in all its vigour. The process em- 
 ployed and the manner of taking the snails has 
 been described by an eye-witness, Eudocia Macrem- 
 bolitissa, daughter of the Emperor Constantine VIII. 
 Her book is to be found in the first volume of the 
 collection published in 1781 by M. d'Ansc de Vil- 
 loison, entitled " Anecdota Graeca," 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 saccus 
 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 purpurate of ammonia, and 
 which Liebig has since called Murexide. It appears 
 
 * This organ is supposed to be the first vestige of a kidney. 
 See Jacobson in " Journ. de Phys.," xci. 318 ; and compare Carus, 
 " Comp. Anat.," torn. i. p. 377, fr. ed. 
 
MOLLUSCA. 147 
 
 evident at tlie present day that this 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, 
 Helix pomatia, 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 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 has so much, increased lately, that the oyster 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 
 
 FIG. 14. Helix pomatia (Edible Snail). 
 
 called an operculum, a flat circular piece of shell- 
 like substance, just large enough to cover the 
 opening of the animal's shell, to which it is attached 
 by a strong mucous cement. The snail, having 
 previously 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-gardens (escargotoires, French) . 
 
MOLLUSCA. 149 
 
 A snail-garden consists either of a large square 
 plot of ground boarded in, the floor of which is 
 covered half a foot deep with herbs, or of broad 
 illow 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 pomatia is not so common in England as on 
 the Continent ; it is found abundantly, however, near 
 Dorking. Some naturalists 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 long 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. 
 
 Chimborazo, in the 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 H. pomatia, H. horticola, 
 etc., when boiled in milk, is said to afford a light 
 and strengthening food for invalids ; and for many 
 years the large Apple Snail (if. pomatia), the Red 
 Arion (Arion rufus) 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 Hmacine. 
 
 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 fi 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. Mylius, unaware of the discovery of Jacobson 
 mentioned above, has found uric acid in H. pomatia 
 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 
 (Turbo littoreus), one of the most common Mollusca 
 in our latitudes, and small Whelks (Buccinuin) } 
 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 Gasteropod, 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 Haliotis tricostalis (H. padollus of other 
 authors) the shell is furrowed parallel with tlie line 
 of perforations. H. tuberculata may be taken as a 
 type of these curious Mollusca. There are se/^nty- 
 five species of Haliotis, 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 Varro, 
 in his " De re Rustica," speaks of the enormous 
 size to which snails may be brought by culture. 
 Pliny, in his Natural History, repeats Yarrows 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 European 
 Continent (Fig. 15). 
 
 A certain number of Gasteropoda are sought 
 after for the beauty of their shells. The Cowries, 
 certain species of Cyprcea, are still used as money 
 by the Africans, the natives of the Laccadives, and 
 other Indian islands. The Cowrie, properly so called, 
 
MOLLUSCA. 155 
 
 Cyprcea moneta, L., has been imported into Liver- 
 pool of late years at the following rate : 
 
 In the year 1851, 1704 cwt. of Cyprcea 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 alive 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 Cyprcea, known to the French 
 as Porcelaines, or as Pucilages, and by the English 
 as " Love-shells," are used as ornaments, etc. 
 Children sometimes place them to the ear, to listen, 
 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 peculiar 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 beeu 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 d 1 fr. 25 c." 
 
 The larger species of Cypraa were consecrated 
 by the Greeks at Cnidos, in the temple of Venus. 
 
 FIG. 16. Anc;eu,t Egyptian Necklace of Love-shells (Cyprsea), 
 ornamented with Gold. 
 
 In certain parts of Africa the natives worship them 
 as idols, 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 Oliva, 
 are seen as ornaments on the chimney-piece. Their 
 price is somewhat high. 
 
 The Mollusca belonging to the genera Cyprcea, 
 
MOLLUSCA. 
 
 157 
 
 Oliva, Ouula, etc., sometimes quit their old shells, 
 and produce new ones. 
 
 The Conch-shell, the product of Strombus 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 Turbinella pyrum (or 
 Valuta 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 is commonly called C( the Chank-shell." They are 
 fished 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-ahell). 
 
 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 
 
MOLLUSCA. 
 
 159 
 
 making bangles, or armlets and anklets, the manu- 
 facture of which is almost confined to Dacca. The 
 solid porcellanous shell is sliced into segments of 
 circles, or narrow rings of various sizes, by a rude 
 semicircular saw. The bangles thus constructed are 
 worn by the Hindoo women; they 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. 
 
 FIG. 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 pyrum is used for 
 calendering or glazing, and in Nepal for giving a 
 polished 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- 
 
160 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 sented for Madras as 34,184, and for Calcutta, 
 29,985.* 
 
 Sir Emerson Tennant has given an account of 
 this shell, under the name of Turbinella rap a. 
 
 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 Mollusca in 
 general. When a snail's shell is broken, the animal 
 repairs it in an astonishing manner; and when 
 some part of the animal's body has been cut away, 
 it also reappears. Spallanzani, having cut off a 
 snail's 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- 
 culum, remained thus enclosed for weeks, and even 
 * See "The Technologist," vol. ii. (1862), p. 185. 
 
MOLLUSCA. 161 
 
 months. When forced out for examination at the 
 end of thirty 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 injury 
 was so completely repaired, that the new head could 
 only be distinguished from the old one by its lighter 
 colour. 
 
 These experiments have been confirmed by 
 Bonnet, SchoefFer, Grerordi, 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 (Arion 
 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 their species can often be determined by the form 
 
 and colour of their shells. 
 
 * * * * # 
 
 I shall now turn 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 mussel, 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 byssus, a sort of silky hair which the animal 
 secretes for this purpose. In some genera allied 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 mollusca 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 live 
 on the bottom, whether this be sandy, rocky, or 
 muddy. This fact has been turned to advantage by 
 the Italian 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'Orbigny's " Hist, des Pares a Moules de 1'Arrondisseraent 
 de la Rochelle," La Kochelle, 1847 ; and De Quatrefage's " Souv. 
 d'un Nat.," tome ii. p. 360, 
 
164 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 a little,, so that the animals no longer lie upon 
 the bottom, but live suspended in the water 
 (Pig. 19). 
 
 Mussels are apt to become very hurtful as food 
 at certain seasons of the year, from May till the 
 end of August, a period denominated by the French 
 1 f la pdriode des mois sans r." 
 
 The cause of this does not appear to be satis- 
 factorily ascertained. Some attribute it to the 
 presence of spawn in their gills during this period ; 
 
 n 
 
 FIG. 19. Breeding Mussels upon ropes, as practised at La Eochelle, France. 
 
 others assert that 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. 1 65 
 
 The genus Mytilus is pretty numerous in species, 
 most of which 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 goose's 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 
 mollusca. 
 
 In our Mytilus edulis small pearls are frequently 
 found I shall have something to say on pearls 
 presently and in the month of November the 
 small Pea-crab (Pinnotheria) is often seen in their 
 shells. 
 
 M' ytilusMagellanicus, which 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Professor Kickx (that Van Beneden calls Dreissena 
 polymorpha, and which has been honoured with a 
 host of other names besides), are probably carried 
 about the world on the keels of ships, and very 
 widely diffused. 
 
 The species just mentioned, M. area, is found 
 inhabiting seas, lakes, rivers, marshes, etc., ex- 
 tending over nearly the whole surface of Europe, 
 from lat. 43 N. to lat. 56 1ST. It is, moreover, 
 found in the earth in a fossil state.* 
 
 A highly-nutritious mussel, Mytilus lithophagus, 
 L. (or Modiola lithophaga, Lam.), common enough 
 in the Mediterranean and at the Antilles, has the 
 fuculty 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. lithophagus 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 (0 street, 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 brings forth 
 from one to two million of young, of which the 
 
 * On this curious mussel, see Yan Beneden in " Ann. des Sc. 
 Nat., 1835." 
 
MOLLUSCA. 1(57 
 
 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 naturalist s, 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 attain many leagues in length and a considerable 
 thickness. Leuwenhoek counted upwards of three 
 thousand young oysters moving about in the liquid 
 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 produced them are hatched. 
 
 M. Graillon says that the oyster feeds chiefly 
 upon a green animalcule, called Vibrio navicularis ; 
 but others assert that it lives 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 animalculse 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 silica. Ether 
 has the property of coagulating and throwing down 
 the albumen contained in this liquid. 
 
 Some varieties of oyster live 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 
 ephippiwm, and are rocked to and fro by the balmy 
 sea-breeze when the tide retires. These are called 
 
MOLLUSCA. 169 
 
 mangrove oysters, as they hang chiefly 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 Komans 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 peculiar secret for fattening 
 oysters. Britain has been celebrated for its oysters 
 since the time of Juvenal. Pliny 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. 
 
 terranean and on the coasts of the Atlantic, will be 
 consulted with profit by all oyster-breeders. 
 
 On the western coast of France, where 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 Englishman more than a 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 Guided by this knowledge and his own re- 
 searches, M. Coste lately proposed to the French 
 Government 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 falling 
 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 which are 
 
MOLLUSCA. 1 73 
 
 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 parent's 
 shell ; 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 parent's valves, attach themselves 
 to these faggots, and may, on attaining perfect 
 growth, be taken up with the branches, and trans- 
 ported to places where it is desirable to establish 
 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 these the young oysters attach themselves ; and 
 so fruitful 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 twenty-five thousand acres of coast 
 may be brought into full bearing in three years, 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 purpose 
 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 young 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 
 Parliament 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 the 
 English and French Governments, and an Act 
 (6 and 7 Viet. c. 79) passed to carry the same into 
 effect, 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 years, 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 English 
 coast, and bred in artificial oyster-beds at Ostend. 
 
 Mr. Robert Macpherson, speaking of the common 
 oyster, says : " The Ostrea edulis 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 English and Welsh oyster is, however, 
 certainly abundant and of excellent quality at 
 Redondela, at the head of Yigo Bay ; and I have 
 
176 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 likewise dredged it off Cape Trafalgar in sand, and 
 off Malaga in mud, but have not noticed it further 
 eastward in the 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 ; 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 Liverpool 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 experiment, made with a view of acclimatizing 
 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 clams, 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 littoral 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 bridges, 
 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 amounted to 350,000 oysters. 
 In the evening the little town of Auray was illumi- 
 nated, and dancing kept up out of doors to a late 
 
178 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 hour by the peasants and the fishermen. It is the 
 first time that the culture of the oyster has been 
 thus brilliantly inaugurated. Some days after this 
 little 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 Sjpon- 
 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 Cockle (Cardium 
 edule) . 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. 
 
 Pecten 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 
 different ways. I have seen elegant ladies' purses 
 constructed with these shells. In the same manner 
 are the pretty little pink and yellow shells of the 
 Tellina (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- 
 lish as the Clamp -shell ; the 
 French term it benitier, because 
 one of its valves resembles the fount 
 
 /TTV the French). 
 
 which contains the holy-water (Jb ig. 
 
 21) in Koman Catholic churches.* The smaller 
 
 * The two holy-water founts (benitiers) in the church of St. 
 Sulpice, Paris, are valves of the Trldacna. They were presented 
 by the Venetians to Fra^ois 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 Venus rising from the sea. 
 
180 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE 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 
 Chama, which attain also a considerable size. These 
 and the shells of the Gasteropoda, Strombus and 
 Cassis, 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 realize 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 the 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 (Strombus gigas) and the Helmet shell (Cassis) 
 among the Gasteropoda, and the shells of the genus 
 Ohama. The latter mollusc inhabits the inter- 
 tropical seas ; the species lives fixed to the rocks ; 
 and its foot (or under part of the body by which the 
 animal moves) is remarkable from being bent, and 
 resembling in form the foot of a man. The species 
 known to the French as the Came 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 (Strombus gigas]) 
 and sell at eighty francs (3 6s.). Probably other 
 shells might be found to answer the same purpose ; 
 it is sufficient that they present two or more layers 
 of different colours, which is not unfrequently the 
 
182 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 case .with some of the larger Gasteropoda and 
 Bivalves of the Southern seas. 
 
 There exists a peculiar kind of cameo termed 
 the Chinese cameo, or 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 pearls. Of pearl " oysters," as 
 they are generally called, or rather pearl mussels 
 for the animals that furnish us with these jewels 
 are more closely allied 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-water 
 pearl, 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 margaritifera (Pearl-oyster) , 
 
 the "jewel of the sea," but also that beautiful 
 substance known as mother-of-pearl, with which 
 buttons, knife-handles, penholders, work-boxes, and 
 ornaments of every description, are constantly manu- 
 factured. 
 
 The animal in question is the Avicula margariti- 
 fera, L. (Fig. 22). Its shell, of a semicircular 
 
184 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 form, is of a greenish tint on the outside, and of a 
 beautiful pearly lustre in the interior. It consti- 
 tutes mother-of-pearl, which is an important article 
 of commerce at the present day. The pearls for 
 which this mollusc is also sought are small, acci- 
 dental excrescences found in the shell, often buried 
 in the animal's body, but most commonly seen 
 adhering to one of the valves of the shell itself. 
 Like other animals of the mussel kind, Avicula 
 margaritifera secretes a byssus, 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 (ZTmo). 
 
 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 the animal in perfect 
 health, 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 furnish strong points 
 of adherence for certain muscles or ligaments of the 
 animal's body. Be this as it may, Linnaeus, in his 
 experiments on fresh- water mussels (Unio), dis- 
 covered a means of causing the mollusc to produce 
 pearls artificially, as we shall see presently. 
 
 As to the geographical distribution of Avicula 
 margaritifera, which produces mother-of-pearl and 
 the real Oriental pearl, it is found in the Persian 
 Gulf, on the coasts of Arabia Felix, on the coasts of 
 Japan. It is at Cape Comorin, and in the Gulf 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 California, 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 Avicula fimbriata (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 traffic was 
 
186 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 so exhausting to the pearl oyster beds, that the 
 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 
 Grould, known to exist in the same locality. 
 
 Avicula margaritifera, like other mussels and 
 oysters, lies in banks or beds of greater or less 
 depths. On the west coast of Ceylon these shoals 
 occur 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 which he 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 15s. 6d.; the same year chank-shells, before 
 mentioned, realized 188 95. 
 
 Such is the present state of things. Our readers 
 
188 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 will perceive what a vast field for amelioration is 
 offered here, and what a great improvement it 
 would be to do away not only with the barbarous 
 mode of diving, by breeding the Avicula in appro- 
 priate places, but with the unwholesome process of 
 extracting the pearls and shells from the putrid 
 heaps of mollusca. 
 
 There is no doubt, from the experiments already 
 made with the common oyster, 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 period 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 diving 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 
 
 which were abundant in produce 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 has become decomposed at its surface; 
 the same is likewise seen on the feathers of humming 
 birds, parrots, etc., and in certain chemical pre- 
 parations.* It is too complicated a subject to be 
 discussed here. 
 
 Up to the present time no attempt has 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 margaritifera 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 this mussel to manufacture 
 larger pearls. However, such as they are, the pearls 
 of M. edulis have been for many years an article of 
 commerce in England. 
 
 There are two kinds of fresh-water mussel which 
 resemble each other very closely ; the first are found 
 in pools and other stagnant waters, and are known 
 in English as "Pond mussels" (Anodontes). The 
 other description inhabit running water, and are 
 seen in sparkling streams. These belong to the 
 genus Unio, and are those to which I am about 
 to draw attention. 
 
 FIG. 23. Unio margaritiferus (Fresh-water pearl-mussel). 
 
 Our readers are probably acquainted with the 
 "painter's mussel" (Unio pictorum). It is seen in 
 the shop-windows of vendors of pencils, colours, 
 and engravings, with its edges gilt. It is used by 
 miniature painters to hold colours, and that is all 
 I have to say of it. A much larger and by far more 
 interesting mollusc is the fresh- water pearl mussel 
 (Unio margaritiferus) (Fig. 23), a species which is 
 
192 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 common enough in England, Wales, Scotland, Ger- 
 many, etc. It has a large bivalve shell, which, when 
 clean, is of a peculiar yellowish-brown colour, with 
 a wide blue band round the edges. The species has 
 been known for ages in Scotland, where it produces 
 pearls (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 
 English jewels that tempted Julius Caesar to renew 
 his visit to our island. 
 
 TInio margaritiferus is as common in Germany as 
 with us. Very fine specimens are seen in the brooks 
 and rivulets of the Bavarian woods and the moun- 
 tains Fichtelgebirge. Its pearls have likewise 
 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 accomplished geologist, Dr. Yon Hessling, 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. Von 
 
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 Leipzig 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 published in the "Philosophical 
 Transactions/' by Sir Robert Redding, 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 
 
194 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 saw a pearl b ought in Ireland for fifty shillings, that 
 weighed thirty-six carats, and was valued at 40," etc. 
 
 In 1842 letters from Norway mentioned that 
 there had 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 their 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 "Richard 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 that 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 Unio 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 very 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 Italians turn to 
 account for making gloves and stockings. It is a 
 species of Pinna. This genus of mollusca belougs 
 to the same group as the pearl oyster (Avicula) - } 
 like other mussels, the Pinna secrete a long byssus, 
 by which they hold to the rocks. The species vary 
 
196 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 much in dimensions according to their age, but often 
 attain a considerable size, and secrete a byssus more 
 than a foot long. The two valves of their shell are 
 equal, and shaped somewhat like a lady's fan half 
 open. Their byssus is not, like that of the common 
 mussel, 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 
 Italians cannot dye this substance, and that, con- 
 sequently, it can only be used in its natural brown 
 colour. Eeaumur called these mollusca the silk- 
 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 off 
 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 the English 
 (c the great silk mussel ;" and P. fldbellum furnishes 
 a similar silky byssus. These three species all 
 inhabit 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 Eeaumur 
 the " Silkworm of the sea." 
 
 colour; others are black, and shaped like a pear. 
 They are frequently large enough to be of con- 
 siderable value. 
 
 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 in vine countries, where lime in the soil has a 
 marked influence upon the quality of the wine. By 
 calcining them we obtain quicklime of a very pure 
 description. By acting upon them with sulphuric 
 acid, they are converted into gypsum or plaster of 
 Paris (sulphate of lime), though this substance is 
 too common in nature 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 lime or 
 bleaching powder, etc. All these products may be 
 economically obtained from shells, such as the 
 oyster shell, wherever they are abundant; and the 
 compounds thus produced are purer than those 
 obtained from chalk, 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. 
 
 Curious observations upon Worms Reproductive 
 power of the JTa'is Sabularia Terebella Lum- 
 bricus (Planaria Helminthes, or Entozoa The 
 common Earth-worm, Lumbricus terrestris The 
 Leech, Hirudo medicinalis The Horse-leech, H. 
 sang-uisug-a Hirudi culture, or Leech breeding- Its 
 cruelties Extent to which it is carried on in France 
 Barometers of Leeches and Frog's Worms for 
 the Aquarium. 
 
WORMS. 
 
 of tlie most interesting classes of animals 
 is certainly that of Worms. Who has not heard 
 of the wonderful power of reproduction or re- 
 generation of lost parts manifested by the 
 Na'is, 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 rivers, and which vanish like magic when a 
 stone or stick is thrown upon them ? Cut off the 
 head of one of these little 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 
 Ndis, 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 Yers 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 Nats. He cut the head off the same 
 Nais twelve successive times, and twelve successive 
 times the 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 
 Tremblers experiments on polyps." 
 
 Look again at the marvellous manner in which 
 the marine worms, Sabularia and T&rebella, construct 
 the tubes they inhabit, by means of the grains of 
 sand and rock of the sea- shore, or at the curious 
 phosphorescent faculty, or emission of light in the 
 dark, possessed by many marine worms, and even 
 by our common earth-worm (Lumbricus) , at certain 
 seasons of the year* ; or still again, at the curious 
 moveable organ of deglutition observed in certain 
 voracious fresh- water Planarice, which even after it 
 has been torn away from the animal's 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 aquwriwrii, which has lately be- 
 come so fashionable. But, on the other hand, what 
 
 * See my "Phosphorescence, or the Emis8ion of Light by 
 Minerals, Plants, and Animajs." 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 Helmmthes, or intestinal worms. In these 
 curious beings the organs of sense appear to be 
 limited to that of feeling (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. JSTo 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 cavities 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 the young helminthe transforms itself into a 
 species of larva capable of giving birth, without 
 fecundation, to other larvce, which are alone capable 
 of becoming animals similar to the parent worm. 
 But the most curious portion of their 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 animal's body ! Thus it 
 is that Cysticercus cellulosa, Gm., which resembles a 
 white cell or vescicle, and constitutes a peculiar 
 disease with pigs, in whose muscular tissue it de- 
 velopes itself and multiplies with fearful rapidity, 
 transforms itself into Tcenia, or tapeworm, in the 
 intestines of the human body; in fact, Cysticercus 
 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 
 discovered facts relating to this interesting class of animals. Among 
 Helminthes, or Entozoa, as they are sometimes called, is a genus, 
 ttlaria, of which a species is often found in the heart of over-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 (Phoca 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 phocce. 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, 
 
WOEMS. 205 
 
 The only use that has yet been made of Lum- 
 bricus terrestris, or the 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 piscium. But this F. piscium, 
 being always deprived of sexual organs, M. Joly looks upon it as 
 the larva which, in the body of the seal, completes its development, 
 and becomes F. Cordis phocae. 
 
 Eotozoa 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 ; 
 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 and in the large pulmonary cells of this reptile, a five- 
 tnouthed worm, Pentastoma, has been discovered. Another species 
 of Pentastoma is found in the bladder of frogs. Ascaris lumbrici, a 
 little spotted worm, the smallest of all species of Ascaris, has been 
 discovered under the skin of our common earth-worm (Lumbricus 
 terrestris), 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, Nais 
 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 Heteroge'nie energetically denies their wonderful migrations. 
 
206 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 A worm winch lias attracted considerable atten- 
 tion lately, and by rearing of which large sums 
 have been realized in France, is the leech (Hirudo 
 medicinalis, L.) 
 
 Leeches are remarkable for their peculiar tri- 
 angular mouth, which is provided with a lip, 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 animal's breathing apparatus. 
 
 The medicinal leech (H. medicinalis, L.), used for 
 bleeding, is generally of a blackish colour, striped 
 with yellow lines above and spotted yellow stripes 
 beneath. It is found in all the still fresh-waters of 
 Oriental Europe. The horse leech (H. 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 
 
WOEMS. 207 
 
 are forced to lead for man's comfort, were driven 
 into the leech-ponds, to be fed upon by these 
 noxious worms ! Such, readers ! is the dis- 
 gusting practice that has been followed in France 
 for many years. This unwonted and unequalled 
 cruelty constitutes a lasting disgrace to the 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 Socidte 
 Protectrice 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. Guenisseau and 
 Fermond have been occupied with the culture of 
 the leech; and M. Auguste Jourdier has recently 
 published an interesting little work, entitled " Sur 
 THirudiculture," * 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 this worm is practised in France, I may state 
 here that a single leech-swamp in La Gironde yields, 
 on an average, a return dividend of fifteen per 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 realized 
 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 curious habits it has been observed, that on 
 the approach of a tempest the animal ceases to be 
 
WORMS. 209 
 
 languid, moves about with a degree of activity " in 
 proportion to the violence of the storm to come/' 
 and endeavours to escape by climbing up the sides 
 of the glass jar in which it is confined. It is 
 asserted that in this respect the leech is a dangerous 
 rival to the 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 surface 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 
 advise 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 Sabella, Tere- 
 ~bella, SpiOj Sabularia, etc., of which some of the 
 
 p 
 
210 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 rarer species sell at very liigli prices. These worms, 
 by their 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 tfheir Organization 
 and (Polypidom -JVaturalists who have written upon 
 (Polypes Hydra fusca and H. viridis Reproduc- 
 tion of (Polypes (Polypes for the Aquarium Coral- 
 Hum nobilis, and general observations on Coral Its 
 (Polypidom (Practical details concerning Coral 
 Coralliculture Coral Fishery Uses of Coral Isis 
 hippuris, or Articulated Coral ^Tubipora musica 
 (The genus J\ adrepora Reefs and Coral Islands 
 Formation of Reefs J\A 'adrepora, muricata Its 
 Chemical Composition How it derives its Lime 
 Its uses. 
 
POLYPES. 
 
 ETWEEN the class of Worms and that of 
 Polypes there exists many groups of in- 
 ferior animals which, hitherto, have not 
 been employed by man j such, for instance, 
 are the Medusas (Sea-blubbers and Sea- 
 nettles), and the different varieties of Star-fish 
 (Asteria, Ophiura, 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 little or no effect. 
 Among the Echinodermata (Star-fish, Ophiura, etc.) 
 there is, however, an animal, Holothuria priapus, 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 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 dried in the sun, and packed in baskets, which sell 
 at a high price among the Asiatics. Long before 
 Polypes should likewise be placed the class of 
 Rotiferce, or wheel-animalcules ; but, on account of 
 their microscopic forms, the little I have to say 
 upon them will be found in the chapter on Infusoria, 
 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: Ooralium, 
 Isis, Madrepora, Caryophyllea, Oculium, Pocillopora, 
 Astrea, Porita, Meandrina, Tubipora, Sertularia, 
 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 live separately, floating about 
 singly in the water, or fixed one by one to the 
 rocks: Others live 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 which 
 produce a polypidom such as the Coral, the Madre- 
 pora, 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 octo- 
 poda (S. officinalis) to Infusoria, including animals 
 which differ essentially in every respect. The habi- 
 tation of Coralligenous polypes the polypidom 
 was looked upon by the ancients as a growing 
 stone or a stony plant (Lithophyte) . 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 1740, whilst engaged 
 in his wonderful experiments upon Hydra viridis 
 and H. fusca of our stagnant waters. 
 
 Ellis, Marsigli, Baster, Donati, Boccone, De 
 Geer, Reaumur, 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 OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 formations occasioned by these animalcules, we are 
 indebted to the labours of K. and G. Forster, Cha- 
 misso (author of the " Marvellous History of Peter 
 Schlemyll"), Peron, Quoy and Guemard, Captain 
 Flinders, Lutke, Beechy, Darwin, D'Urville, 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 fusca, 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) bo put into a 
 bottle of water with a wide 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 which the light falls, and will be seen 
 floating about in that 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 fuscdj which is 
 brown or olive coloured, and H. viridis, which is 
 green. Sometimes a reddish-brown variety (H. 
 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 animal's body. 
 This bud, which at first appears as a little globule, 
 gradually developes itself into a complete polype, 
 and drops off. 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 grand- 
 father by six in the afternoon. But this rapid sue- 
 
218 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 cession of births is only observed in all its grandeur 
 under the Tropics. It has been remarked, also, 
 that the 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 
 interesting 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-like animal, 
 and there are in some species many hundred cells 
 in one square inch of this network. Again, the 
 Sertularia and the beautiful Campanularia, or bell- 
 shaped polypes, are sought for to decorate the 
 aquarium ; whilst Sea Anemones, on account of the 
 
Fio. 26. 
 
 1. Corallium nobilis (Red coral). 
 
 2. Polype magnified. 
 
POLYPES. 221 
 
 comparative ease with which, 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 live principally upon animal sub- 
 stances, such as small worms, infusoria, and the 
 like, 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 (Corallium noUlis, 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 extensive traffic. In nature its stein, or the axis of 
 its polypidom, 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 little 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 withdraws 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. Silliman, 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 
 polype* s 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 authorities, a nett profit of 250,000 
 sterling per annum.* 
 
 Spallanzani's observations have taught us that 
 coral grows very rapidly, and is quickly reproduced ; 
 so that in a few years' time a locality which has 
 been deprived of its coral by repeated fisheries is 
 again repeopled with this lucrative polype. 
 
 It has also been remarked that a branch 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 different 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 polype 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 the stem of a tree, for an indefinite 
 period of time. 
 
 All these data should be borne in mind by those 
 who would undertake to cultivate coral, a branch of 
 industry which has lately been seriously thought of, 
 and to which the French have already given the 
 name of Coralliculture. And if it be impossible to 
 grow coral upon our English coasts, there are spread 
 over the globe hundreds of English possessions 
 where Coralliculture might become an unexpected 
 source of wealth. 
 
 For ages past coral has been the object of an 
 extensive and valuable industry ; it constitutes an 
 important feature in the commerce of Marseilles, 
 Genoa, Catalogna, Corsica, Sicily, and other Medi- 
 terranean islands. The coasts of Sicily, the Adri- 
 atic, and the coast of Tunis, are classed among the 
 places where the most active operations of this 
 kind are carried on. Regular coral fisheries are 
 established in the Straits of Messina, on the shores 
 of Majorca and Ivica, .the coasts of Provence, of 
 Algiers, etc. Abundant supplies are obtained from 
 the Bed Sea, the Persian Gulf, the coast of 
 Sumatra, and other localities. 
 
 Sicilian coral is much prized, and has been 
 known to value as much as ten guineas per ounce. 
 
 Q 
 
226 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 The price, however, is exceedingly variable, ac- 
 cording to quality, other portions of the same mass 
 selling for less than 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 o"f 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). 
 
 Fia. 27. Coral Net. 
 a a. Beams of wood, 15 feet long, covered with tow. 6 6. 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, 
 which 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 Ibs. ; in 1854, 
 146 Ibs. arrived. 
 
 There exist four species of coral-like animals 
 belonging to the genus Isis (which has been sepa- 
 rated from that of Corallium), one of which, Isis 
 liippuris, know as Articulated coral, is abundant in 
 many seas. Its polypidom is composed of calca- 
 
228 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 reous joints united to and alternating with horny 
 ones, which gives to the species in question an 
 aspect similar to that of the plants called Equisetum 
 (horse-tail). Isis hippuris is sought for and prized 
 as a curiosity, though the species is not rare. 
 
 The polypes of the genus Tupipora 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 green fields in the 
 ocean. 
 
 The species Tupipora musica is the most 
 common; its polypidom is of a fine red colour; it 
 has been termed T. musica because the cylinders of 
 this polypidom 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 the rarer marine Algce along with these 
 magnificent polypes. 
 
 It is to the genus Madrepora that 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 Madrepora 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 Australian islands, there is 
 hardly a league of sea unoccupied by a t( 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. 
 
 circumstance explains the frequency of their crater- 
 like forms (Fig. 28). Dalrymple says he has seen 
 
 FIG. 28.- Circular Coral Island, recently formed in the Pacific Ocean, prin- 
 cipally composed of the species Madrepora muricata, and shutting in a 
 portion of the ocean as a lake. 
 
 madrepore banks in all their stages some in deep 
 water, others with a few portions above the surface ; 
 some just formed into islands without the slightest 
 vestige of vegetation ; others with a few weeds on 
 their highest point ; and, lastly, such as are covered 
 with trees of many years 5 growth, " with a bottom- 
 less sea at a pistol-shot distance/ 5 
 
 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 currents, 
 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 New 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 Come de Dame, or Char 
 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 lime with which they chew their betel, and 
 scour the Holothuria which they collect for the 
 Chinese, etc., as we have already 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- 
 lypes such as Porita, Astrcea, Meandrina, Caryo- 
 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 lime, 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 
 
 Fia. 30. Caryophyliea fastigiata. 
 
 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 whole 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 which 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 lime 
 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-rock. 
 
 Madrepora was formerly imported into this 
 country for medicinal purposes, under the name of 
 white coral. It is capable of receiving very fine 
 polish, and can then be made, as coral, into orna- 
 ments of every description.* 
 
 * For many extremely interesting and novel details concerning 
 fresh-water polypes, bryozoa and infusoria, see Henry J. Slack's in- 
 genious little work entitled " Marvels of Pond Life." 
 
Infusoria and other AnimalculsBi 
 
 J& ioroscopio Animals useful toJVLan Universal distri- 
 bution of Infusoria (Dry Fogs -jluthors who have 
 studied Infusoria (Philosophical considerations con- 
 cerning- them The Jdonads, I^otifera, Vibrio 
 I^hizopoda^JVLonas crepusculum, the most minute 
 of living- beings (^Deposit in which the transatlantic 
 Cable lies transition of Colour in Lakes Fossil 
 Infusoria "JMtountain J/Leal " Its Chemical Com- 
 position Enormous quantities of it consumed as Food 
 G-eographical distribution of Infusorial deposits 
 The Town of Richmond, in Virginia Berlin The 
 (polishing Schist of gilin, in (Prussia 1,750,000,000 
 beings to the square inch Tripoli, its uses and 
 composition G-eographical and G-eological distri- 
 bution of Infusoria, Foraminifera, and (Diatomacece 
 Soluble (3-lass obtained from Infusorial (^Deposits 
 Uses of Soluble Glass Other applications of Infu- 
 sorial Earth Qhallc, its uses and geological origin 
 The Jfummulite Limestone (Paris mostly built of 
 Animalcules Other details Time. 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 
 
 pass on now to examine another exten- 
 sive group of animals, still more wonder- 
 ful, and perhaps more interesting, than any 
 which precede. Here, under the 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 aliments, 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 the ice, and sometimes in 
 the air we breathe. 
 
 Ehrenberg found a few species of Infusoria in 
 the subterranean water of mines; he 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 animalculae, 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, agrees admirably 
 with the results of numerous researches lately made by Pouchet 
 of Rouen, 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. 
 
 f See Humboldt's " Yiews 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 ANIMALCULE. 239 
 
 sen and Ms son Zacharias Jansen of Middleburg, 
 revealed to us the 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 Linnaeus arranged all the organized 
 beings known to him in his " Systema Naturee," 
 the structure of infusoria and other animalculas 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. Muller's work was published 
 in 1773-4. He described many species. But 
 Needham had already published (1745) his "New 
 Microscopical Discoveries." 
 
 These minute organisms have also been investi- 
 gated by Leuwenhoek, Lamarck, Cuvier, Bory de 
 St. Yincent, Hill, Hooke, Adams, Baker, Spal- 
 lanzani, Ehrenberg, Mantell, Pritchard, Morren, 
 Pouchet, etc. 
 
 Bhrenberg studied their internal structure by 
 feeding them on colouring matters, such as indigo, 
 and carmine. 
 
240 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 If a few flower stalks or a handful of green 
 leaves be placed in a glass of water, and allowed to 
 remain there from two to four days exposed to the 
 air and to the light, at the end of that 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, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Bory de 
 St. Yincent, 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 
 
 * Pouchet " Sur 1'Heterogenie," Paris, 1859, 1 vol. in 8vo. 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 241 
 
 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 brute [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 Infusoria 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 <c Protoctista," etc., in the " Journ. de Medicine," 
 Bruxelles, Dec. 1861. 
 
 R 
 
242 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 or cell, having a few green or coloured spots in its 
 interior. These 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 authors say they vary from 
 1 -24,000th 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 line in diameter. 
 He alludes probably to Monas crepusculum, 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 effect 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 our own bodies. Such is the 
 
 * Even in Leuwenhoek's time the excessive number of animal- 
 cules in some waters was noticed with, surprise ; but in his day the 
 microscopes were exeedingly defective. The eminent naturalist 
 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. 
 He actually ground his own lenses, in which art he excelled the 
 best opticians of the day. Most of his papers have been published 
 in the English " 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 animalcules present in a drop of water. 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 243 
 
 type of Infusoria in general ; bnt there are other 
 more highly- organized forms in this vast family, 
 which recall sometimes the bell-shaped polypes, or 
 other animals of still more complicated structure. 
 The Rotifera, or wheel-animalcules, which were until 
 lately classed with Infusoria, have been gradually ele- 
 vated to the class of TFbrms,andare nowplaced 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- 
 cockle" or the blight, in wheat, has been taken 
 from the class of Infusoria, and placed in that of 
 Helminthes or Entozoa (worms). 
 
 Some infusorial animalculae secrete themselves 
 a covering of hard flint (silica) , resembling in 
 this respect the plants which belong to the family 
 of Equisetacce and the Grasses, the epidermis of 
 whose stems contains sometimes as much as 90 per 
 cent, of silica. 
 
 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 Rhizopoda a class 
 higher than Infusoria present also the latter pe- 
 
244 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 culiarity. This hard covering consists sometimes 
 of silica, and sometimes of carbonate of lime. To 
 it we owe the preservation of the forms of Infusoria 
 and Foraminifera (Rhizopoda), 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 crepusculum 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 (Diatomacece, 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. 
 
INFUSOEIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 245 
 
 It is our hope to have a telegraphic cable, uniting 
 us with the continent of America, imbedded one 
 day in such a rock, where it would lie 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 surface, 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 Red Sea and 
 Yellow Sea derived their names. Certain Astaria 
 and Euglena ruber give to water a blood-red colour. 
 The same happens when microscopic Algce, of a red 
 tint, found at certain seasons in the Eed Sea, are 
 present. Euglena viridis, Cryptomonas glauca, Monas 
 bicoloTj and other Infusoria, colour water intensely 
 green. A blue colour will be observed when con- 
 siderable quantities of Stentor ceruleus 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 Pritcliard and others. 
 
246 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 Again, many Infusoria and Rhizopoda play an 
 important part in the phosphorescence of the sea. 
 The 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 admirably 
 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-mehl, 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 iron.* 
 
 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. 
 l.l. Gallionella. 
 
 c. Bacillaria. 
 
 d. Peridinum. 
 
 e. Xanthidium. 
 
 f. Euastrum. 
 
 g. Pinnularia. 
 h. Pixidula. 
 
 i. Navicula. 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 249 
 
 of themselves an aliment of sufficient nutriment to 
 sustain life ; but in China, 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, Gallionella sulcata, Oomphonema 
 gemmatum, and several other species. 
 
 Berzelius 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 Humholdt's " Yiews of Nature," vol. i., on 
 the earth eaten by the Otomacs, etc. 
 
250 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 thickness. There are seven or eight similar deposits 
 in Mexico. All these deposits contain a certain 
 amount of vegetable remains. Indeed, a similar 
 kind of earth, composed almost entirely of micro- 
 scopic plants (?) (Diatomacece) , underlies the town 
 of Richmond, in Virginia, 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 
 animalculae and inferior algae. 
 
 In some mud brought from the Levant, in 1844, 
 hundreds of siliceous shells of Infusoria, Diatomaceas, 
 etc., were discovered; and some earth recently 
 found near Newcastle, in England, was found to 
 be almost entirely composed of fossil Infusoria and 
 Sacillaria (minute organisms that some naturalists 
 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 upon one of 
 them, which measures about twenty-five yards 
 in thickness. But it is a curious fact that the 
 deposit which underlies the town of Berlin is 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 251 
 
 composed of Infusoria and Diatomacece which are 
 still living, and propagate daily with astonishing 
 rapidity. Their 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 ' f polishing slate" of Bilin, 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 Diatomacece, among which the most common 
 appear to be Gallionella distans and O. ferruginea. 
 One cubic inch of this polishing 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 animalcules 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 the name of Tripoli are included several 
 of these siliceous infusorial earths, extensively ein- 
 
 FIG. 32. Gallionella ferruginea. 
 1. Magnified 300 times. 2. Magnified 2000 times. 
 
 FIG. 33. Gallionella distans. 
 
 ployed for polishing metallic surfaces, etc. They 
 derive their name from Tripoli, in Barbary, whence 
 the substance was originally procured.* 
 
 Is it not an interesting fact that the remains of 
 creatures individually invisible to the naked eye, 
 should, in course of time, form rocks and strata 
 destined to figure among the economical appli- 
 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 ANIMALCULE. 253 
 
 removed in one year, one-third of that entire mass 
 consisted of microscopic animals. The moors of 
 Limburg 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 siliceous 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 Diatomacese 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 that of the equally microscopic but much larger 
 Foraminifera, is remarkable by its extent. 
 
 " Not only in the polar regions/' says Ehren- 
 berg, "is there an uninterrupted development of 
 active microscope life, where larger animals can no 
 longer exist, but we find that the microscopic 
 animals collected in the Antarctic expedition of 
 Captain James Eoss 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 Coscino- 
 discce, with their green ovaries, and therefore living, 
 and able to resist the extreme severity of the cold. 
 In the Gulf of Erebus, sixty-eight siliceous- shelled 
 Polygastria and Phytolitharia, and only one species 
 of a calcareous- shelled Polythalamia (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 Diatomacece 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 ANIMALCULE. 255 
 
 a submarine deposit, consisting entirely of the 
 siliceous particles of which the 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 living organisms. Ehrenberg has shown 
 that the infusorial beings now living nourish 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, fc which are characteristic of many rocks, 
 have a different nature from the green earth often 
 met with in concretionary masses. The former, 
 from the Glauconie of the Paris limestone to the 
 Azoic lower Silurian greensand near Petersburg, 
 appear to consist of green opalescent casts of Poly- 
 ihalamia, composed of a hydro silicate of iron. The 
 
256 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 cretaceous greensands of England contain, unmis- 
 takeably, these stony casts. In the Tertiary com- 
 pact, limestone and nummulitic limestones, occur 
 beautifully preserved specimens of Quinqueloculina, 
 Rotalia, Textularia, Grammostoma, and Alscolina. 
 In the lower Silurian greensand casts of detached 
 cells of Textularia and Nodosaria have been 
 found." 
 
 In the lakes of Sweden there 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 polishing 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 cDmmons or plains of Lune- 
 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. 33 It was 
 
INFUSORIA AND OTHER ANIMALCULE. 
 
 257 
 
 first ascertained by analysis that this infusorial 
 earth contained 87 per cent, of pure silica. The 
 following method was then adopted to convert it 
 into silicate of soda : 148 Ibs. of calcined carbonate 
 of soda are dissolved in five times their weight of 
 boiling water ; to this is added a milk of lime pre- 
 
 
 JHI 
 
 Vegetable earth. 
 Infusorial deposit. 
 
 Modern sands. 
 
 I Tertiary formations. 
 
 FIG. 34. Infusorial Deposit, Liinebourg, Germany. 
 
 pared with 84 Ibs. of quicklime. After boiling the 
 mixture for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, the 
 alkaline 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 Ibs. 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 
 taken, the soluble glass obtained is too alkaline and 
 very deliquescent. 
 
 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 burning 
 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 manufacture 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 quality, 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 polishing 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). 
 
INFUSOEIA AND OTHEK ANIMALCULE. 261 
 
 of myriads of animalculee, principally microscopic 
 Foraminifera (Figs. 35 and 36). 
 
 These animalcule, of which, numerous species 
 are still living, secrete a calcareous shell 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 naturalists 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 allies of 
 Infusoria. 
 
 " 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, furnish us with examples in 
 every part of the 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 the end 
 of the secondary and at the commencement of the 
 tertiary period, that the development of this group 
 of fossils seems to have attained its maximum. 
 
 " Although there can be no reasonable doubt/' 
 says Dr. Carpenter, "that the formation of chalk is 
 partly due to the disintegration of corals and larger 
 shells, yet it cannot be questioned that in many 
 localities a very large proportion of its mass has 
 been formed by the slow accumulation of foramini- 
 ferous shells." 
 
 But the calcareous bed of the tertiary forma- 
 tions, known as Nummulite limestone (on account of 
 the enormous quantity of Nummulite shells larger 
 Foraminifera which it contains), is perhaps more 
 interesting still. This Nummulitic limestone can 
 be traced from the Pyrenees, through the Alps and 
 Appenines, into Asia Minor, and further, through 
 Northern Africa and Egypt, into Arabia, Persia, 
 and Northern India ; and thence, in all probability, 
 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 ANIMALCULE. 263 
 
 A similar deposit occurs in the Paris tertiary basin, 
 and in that of Brussels ; and it is not a little re- 
 markable that the fine-grained and easily-worked 
 limestone, which affords such an excellent material 
 for the decorated buildings of the French capital, is 
 almost entirely formed of accumulated masses of 
 the minute shells of foraminiferous animalculge. 
 Even in this Nummulitic limestone, 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 
 lime was produced in the laboratory, nothing re- 
 sembling 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 the white chalk, many of which 
 may still be found living in the North Sea. It was 
 also found that, in the chalk deposits of Southern 
 Europe, the fossil animalculse are beautifully pre- 
 served ; whilst in the chalk of more northern lati- 
 tudes, their shells are mostly found broken. 
 
 Microscopic vegetable forms., principally Diato- 
 macece, abound also in the foraminiferous chalk, as 
 in the other infusorial deposits of which I have 
 spoken. Mr. E. O'Meara has lately found forty-two 
 species of Diatomacece in the white chalk of Antrim, 
 all of which are identical with living species. 
 
 When we consider the time that these immense 
 deposits of animalculse 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 nature knows no time ! 
 
Sponges. 
 
 Remarks on Classification Structure of a Sponge 
 J^aturalists who have contributed to the history of 
 Sponges Chemical nature of Sponge Interesting- 
 results Spongia qfficinalis and S. usta ^The Syrian 
 toilet Sponge Its high price Other Sponges Ob- 
 jects for the Aquarium Spongilla fluviatilis and 
 S. lucustris, or the fresh-water Sponges Sponges 
 common on the English Coast '-Their use in 
 Jtfedicine 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 Sponge J\fiar~kets. 
 
SPONGES. 
 
 HAVE placed Sponges in my last chapter, 
 and in doing so I am apparently following 
 the old zoological routine, which regards 
 these singular beings as the last link of the 
 animal chain the link which joins the animal to 
 the vegetable world ; but this surely is not a fact ! 
 Sponges are evidently more closely allied 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 LIFE. 
 
 them. In the 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 them as we 
 become better acquainted with their organization. 
 In the meanwhile it would be rash to attach too 
 great an importance to the fact of my placing,, in 
 this work, Infusoria before Sponges, and Polypes 
 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 
 
 The canals are lined with 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 
 spicula, which are either siliceous 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 surface, interspersed among 
 the pores. 
 
 The currents thus observed are generated 
 either by a ciliary apparatus existing in the 
 gelatinous substance which lines 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 lines 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 OF MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 The ova of sponges are numerous irregularly- 
 shaped 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 spicula 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 the natural history of sponges, 
 that his name has 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 Spongia 
 officinalis, discovered in it that peculiar substance 
 called fibroin, 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 a 
 1'Hist. des Veg.," etc.; Bowerbank, in " Proceed, of the Geol. 
 Soe.," and in " Microscopic Journ., 1841 j" also " Brit. Ass. Eep., 
 1857." 
 
272 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 as in silk. An elementary analysis of commercial 
 sponge has given, in 100 parts 
 
 Carbon 47-16 
 
 Hydrogen 6*31 
 
 Nitrogen 16-15 
 
 Oxygen 26'90 
 
 Iodine 1'08 
 
 Sulphur 0-50 
 
 Phosphorus 1*90 
 
 Bromine traces 
 
 100-00 
 
 Hence I conclude that the animal matter of sponge 
 belongs to the group which contains fibrine, albu- 
 mine, gelatine, etc., all of which give a per-centage 
 of nitrogen resembling the above. 
 
 Winckler and Eagazzini have both shown that 
 the ash obtained by the combustion of Spongia usta 
 contains slight quantities of bromine. 
 
 These results are certainly not devoid of interest. 
 Both CrookewiVs 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 offidnalis, L.) is 
 found abundantly in the Mediterranean, and will 
 doubtless be cultivated, one of these days, by the 
 
SPONGES. 273 
 
 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 sponge, 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 35s. 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 ; 
 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 
 selling in the Palais Koyal, 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 MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 larger varieties which cling to the rocks, well repay 
 observation, and would form interesting objects for 
 the aquarium. The same might be said of those 
 two remarkable species of fresh-water sponges, 
 Spongilla fluviatilis and S. lacustris. One of these 
 species (8. fluviatilis) is not unfrequently met with 
 in the ditches around Paris, and probably around 
 London also. These Spongilla are green, and at 
 first sight would be taken for vegetables. Mr. John 
 Hogg has published, in the "Linnsean Trans- 
 actions," some experiments made with a view of 
 ascertaining the effect of light upon these fresh- 
 water sponges. He has shown that they are influ- 
 enced by it as vegetables are, and that their green 
 colour depends upon their exposure to it. M. 
 Dutrochet, 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, Spongia oculata, 
 or Halichondria oculata (Fig. 37), may be made to 
 serve the same purposes as foreign sponges, save 
 for the toilet; whilst H. palmata, H. cervicornis, 
 H. tubulosa, H. 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 
 
FIG. 37. 
 Spongia oculata (English sponge). 
 
SPONGES. 277 
 
 its natural state, this sponge contains about one 
 per cent. It might, therefore, be a profitable 
 speculation to extract this useful element from 
 such sponges as S. oculata that abound on some 
 of our English coasts. It is probable, also, that 
 if all the different 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 alkaline solutions. It has been found 
 the 8. 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 every one admires, are of spongeous origin ; 
 that is to*say, have bee.n formed by sponges which 
 are now fossil. In fact, agates and flints are, 
 according to this author, petrified sponges. It is 
 indeed true that the polished section of a moss 
 
278 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 agate, or of certain flints, exhibits, in a beautiful 
 manner, the structure of a sponge. Dr. Bower- 
 bank's views on this subject are very clearly ex- 
 pressed in his paper read before the British Asso- 
 ciation in 1856, in which he brings forward 
 numerous proofs of his theory, and to which I must 
 refer my readers for the details. I agree with this 
 author that sponges doubtless have, at various 
 periods of the earth's history, largely contributed 
 towards the formation of agates and flints ; but it is 
 evident, at the same time, that other siliceous de- 
 posits, such as those of fossil infusoria, etc., have a 
 very different origin. 
 
 Flints 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 curious fact in relation to this : In the 
 south of Europe, the beds of marl which alternate 
 with the white chalk consist of myriads of siliceous 
 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. 
 
 Flints not only show beautifully-preserved re- 
 mains of sponges, but also those of polypes, such 
 as Alcyonia 3 etc., Echinia, and other marine organ- 
 
SPONGES. 279 
 
 isms, even molluscous shells or their impressions, 
 numerous infusoria, and star-like microscopic ob- 
 jects, which have been taken for fossil animalcule, 
 and termed Xanthidia, 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. When 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 the growth, of the 
 rigid portion or skeleton of the sponge, and the 
 duration of this skeleton, is not known with accu- 
 racy; but it appears, from recent investigations, 
 that beds of sponges spring up and increase rapidly 
 where they 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 qualities 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 iii 
 the "Intellectual Observer" for January, 1864, 
 a valuable article upon the Tinnevelly Pearl Banks, 
 
282 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 
 
 by Clements K. Markham, Esq., in which the author, 
 whose views coincide perfectly with my own, gives 
 much interesting information regarding the Asiatic 
 Pearl Fisheries, showing the absolute necessity of 
 establishing 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, FUINTEH, LONDON. 
 
LIST OF WORKS AKD PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS 
 BY DR. T. L. PHIPSOJST, F.O.S. LOND., 
 
 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 Pharma- 
 ceutical Society of Antwerp, the Society of Medical and Natural Sciences of 
 Bruxelles, the Society of Sciences of Strasburg, etc., one of the Editors 
 of " Le Cosmos," etc., etc. 
 
 1. The Utilization of Minute Life. 8vo. London, 1864. Groombridge and Sons. 
 
 2. Phosphorescence ; or, the Emission of Light by Minerals, Plants, and Animals. 
 
 8vo. London, 1862. Reeve and Co. 
 
 3. La Force Catalytique, Etudes sur les Phenomenes de Contact (Prize Essay, 
 
 Dutch Society of Sciences). 4to. Harlem, 1858. Loosjes. 
 
 4. Le Pre"parateur-Photographe, traite* de Chimie a 1'usage des Photographes, etc. 
 
 8vo. Paris, 1864. Leiber. 
 
 5. Essay on the Uses of Salt in Agriculture (Prize Essay). London, 1863. Simpkin. 
 
 6. Memoire sur le Fecule et les Substances qui peuvent la remplacer dansl'Industrie. 
 
 Bruxelles, 1S54. Tircher. 
 
 7. Reeherches nouyelles sur le Phosphore. Bruxelles, 1855. Tircher. 
 
 8. Essai sur les Animaux Domestiques des Ordres Inferieurs. Paris, 1857. Leiber. 
 
 In the Journal of tie Chemical Society, 1862 to 1864. 
 
 3. On the Bicarbonate of Ammonia of 
 
 the Chinca Isles. 1863. 
 
 4. On Vanadium Ochre, and other 
 
 sources o Vanadic Acid. 1863. 
 
 1. On the Transformations of Citric, 
 
 Butyric, and Valerianic Acids. 1862. 
 
 2. On Sombrerite, a new mineral. 1862. 
 
 In the Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1863 to 1864. 
 
 3. Note on the Variations of Density 
 produced by Heat in Mineral Sub- 
 stances. 
 
 1. Eesearches on several Mineral Sub- 
 
 stances, including their Analysis, etc. 
 
 2. On Magnesium. 
 
 In Comptes-Rendus de VAcademie des 
 1. De 1'Action des Corps Organiques sur 
 
 1'Oxygene. 1856. 
 
 2. Sur la Production de la Mannite par 
 
 les Plantes Marines. 1856. 
 
 3. Sur une Nouvelle Koche de Formation 
 
 Recente, etc. (1857 and 1860, two 
 notes). 
 
 4. Sur quelques Phenomenes Meteoro- 
 
 logiques observes sur le littoral de 
 laFlandre. 1857. 
 
 5. Notes sur les Teredo Fossiles. 1$57. 
 
 6. Sur une Pluie sans Nuages observee a 
 
 Paris. 1857. 
 
 7. Sur la Putrefaction a 35 degrees sous 
 
 zero. 1857. 
 
 8. Action de la Santonine sur la Vue. 
 
 1859. 
 
 9. Sur la Presence de PAniline dans 
 
 certains Champignons. 1860. 
 
 Sciences de Paris, 1856 to 1863. 
 
 Sur une Pluie de foin observe'e a 
 Londres. 1861. 
 
 Sur quelques cas nouveaux de Phos- 
 phorescence par la Chaleur. 1860. 
 
 Sur la Matiere Phosphorescente de la 
 Raie. 1860. 
 
 Sur un Oxide d'Antimoine natif de 
 Borneo. 1861. 
 
 Sur le Tinkalzite de Perou. 1861. 
 
 Sur un Brouillard 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 1'acide Manganique. 1860. 
 
 Sur un Oligiste de 1'Epoque DeVonien 
 et sur une Matiere Organique qu'il 
 contient. 1861. 
 
 In the Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science, 1860 to 1864. 
 
 1. On a new Sulphide of Chromium. 
 
 1861. 
 
 2. Note on Fluorine. 1861. 
 
 3. On a new Colouring-matter. 1861. 
 
 4. Experiments and Observations on the 
 
 part played by Oxygen in Erema- 
 causis and Fermentations. 1863. 
 
 5. On the presence of Xanthic Oxide in 
 
 Guanos containing no Uric Acid. 
 1862. 
 
 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 of 
 Wight. 1862. 
 
 9. Composition of a peculiar substance 
 
 which exudes from a Tertiary rock 
 in Australia. 1862. 
 
10. On Native Zinc and Native Tin. 1862. 
 
 11. On Crystallized Platinum. 1862. 
 
 12. Artificial formation of Populine. 1862. 
 
 13. On a new Harmonica Chymica. 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 inclusively. 
 
 1. Experiences et Observations sur la 
 
 Presence de l'Ammoniaque dans la 
 Kespiration. 1856. 
 
 2. Action de 1'Acide Sulfurique sur le 
 
 Zinc et le Fer. 1858 (two papers). 
 
 3. Quelques mots sur les Modifications 
 
 Allotropiques des gaz. 1855. 
 
 4. Sur 1'Oxygene Allotropique, etc. 1856. 
 
 5. Encore quelques mots sur 1'Ozone, 
 
 etc. 1856. 
 
 6. Sur les Produits de la Distillation 
 
 seche des Matieres fecales. 1857. 
 
 7. Sur le Vert de Zinc. 1857. 
 
 8. Sur les grenats Naturels et Artificiels. 
 
 1857. 
 
 9. Analyse d'un Melange Gazeux Conte- 
 
 nant du 1'Oxygene. 1856. 
 
 10. Sur les Bolets bleuissants, Etude de la 
 
 Formation des Matieres Colorantes 
 chez les Champignons. 1860. 
 
 11. Protoctista ou la Science de la Creation 
 
 aux points de vue de la Chimie et de 
 la Physiologic. 1861. 
 
 12. Analyses de quelques Substances 
 
 Minerales. 1862. 
 
 13. Sur la Forme Crystalline du Charbon. 
 
 1859. 
 
 14. Sur une nouvelle Theorie d'Ethe'rifica- 
 
 tion. 1855. 
 
 15. Sur le Fluorure de Potassium. 1858. 
 
 16. Sur les Oxalates de Fer. 1861. 
 
 17. Sur la The"orie Electro -Chimique. 
 
 1856. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS WETTINGS. 
 
 In the Geologist, Vols. i. and ii., 1858 to July 1859. 
 Foreign Correspondence. 19 Papers. 
 
 In the Intellectual Observer, 1864. 
 Vanadic Acid. The Phosphates used in Agriculture. 
 
 In the Popular Science Review, 1863 to 1864. 
 Anaesthetics. The Aniline Dyes. 
 
 Ill Macmillarfs Magazine, 1862 to 1864. 
 
 Electricity at Work. Gold, its Chemistry and Mineralogy. 
 
 The Chemistry of the Sea. The Movements of Plants. 
 
 In the Cosmos, Paris, 1856 to 1864. 18 vols. 
 Eeviews, Miscellaneous Articles, and English Correspondence. 
 
 In the Moniteur de la Photagraphie, Paris, 1861 to 1864. 4 vols. 
 English Correspondence. 
 
 In the Technologist, 1861, and Photographic News, 1861. 
 On a New Process of Photography without Silver. 
 
 In the Progres par la Science, Bruxelles, 1864. 
 Etudes de Chimie Agricole. 
 

 NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 QBOOMERIDGE AM) SONS. 
 
 New Work by the Author of "ThetHeir of Hedclyffe," etc. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, printed on toned paper, with 36 Initial Letters and other Illustrations, 
 cloth gilt antique, price 5s., 
 
 THE WARS OF WAPSBURGH. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OP " THE HEIE OF KEDCLYFFE," ETC. 
 
 " Quite worthy of the Authoress of ' The Heir of Redclyffe.' "Notes and 
 Queries. 
 
 " A charmingly fanciful story. Every one who hates wasps ought to read this 
 book and be converted. An atmosphere of kindly human interest is thrown over 
 the whole tale, which is lighted up by the play of a beautiful fancy." Reader. 
 
 " This very nicely printed book we can recommend most heartily. The allegory 
 ia well carried out." Standard. 
 
 THE OLD BUSHMAN IN LAPLAND. 
 
 AT ALL THE LIBRAKIES. Heady this day, post 8vo, cloth gilt, price 10s. 6d., 
 
 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND, 
 
 WITH NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF LULEA LAEMABK. 
 BY AN OLD BUSHMAN, 
 
 Author of "Bush Wanderings in Australia." 
 
 " We trust that the Old Bushman's book may send many a true naturalist, and 
 many a holiday maker too, to the country that his book so well describes." Reader. 
 
 " As a book for general reading, ' A Spring and Summer in Lapland ' will be 
 found one of the pleasantest of the season." Intellectual Observer. 
 
 " The description of his being lost for nine hours at night in a snow storm is dis- 
 tressingly vivid ; we doubt whether Defoe or George Eliot ever wrote anything finer 
 in point of physical and psychological description. There is an agonizing simplicity, 
 a depth, force, and truth of detail which could hardly be surpassed, because every 
 touch is in the nature of the thing." Spectator. 
 
 " A volume which will be acceptable to the ornithologist and the sportsman." 
 Observer. 
 
 "His notes abound in information." Sun. 
 
 " It was a good thought that took the Old Bushman on a hunting and na- 
 turalist's mission to Lapland. His volume, telling of the natural features of this 
 district, and of the many animals that are almost its only inhabitants, is more full 
 of new and solid matter than the majority of travel books, and therefore has greater 
 claims on the attention of men of science." Examiner. 
 
 " There is no need to praise such books as this, which will attract and delight 
 many readers. No review does it justice." Standard. 
 
 " These notes on Lapland will be very acceptable to lovers of Natural History, 
 and particularly so to students of ornithology." Notes and Queries. 
 
 " As a chronicler of these facts, the ' Old Bushman' is strikingly conscientious. 
 He has recorded nothing which did not come under his own personal observation." 
 Saturday Ik view. 
 
 "Independently of the valuable zoological information, and the useful hints to 
 sportsmen which are to be found in its pages, the book abounds with illustrative 
 anecdotes, incidents of northern travel, the Author's account of his being lost in 
 the snow, and many other details of his experiences, render the Old Bushman's 
 work thoroughly worth reading." Athencsnm. 
 
 " What can the British sportsman require more? Let him at once start to 
 spend the ' Spring and Summer in Lapland,' take the pleasant, care fully- written 
 volume of the ' Old Bushman* in his pocket as next to a circular note his best 
 travelling companion." Daily News. 
 
 London : GKOOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Row. 
 
NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS 
 
 Dedicated, by permission, to H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. 
 Fcap. 8vo, cloth, price 5s., 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF WAR AND MILITARY 
 STUDIES. 
 
 By THOMAS CARTER, Author of " Medals of the British Army." 
 
 This Soldiers' Book and Military Compendium is full of the most interesting 
 anecdotes and incidents relating to various regiments, and contains the origin of 
 every infantry corps, together with names and heroic deeds of the recipients of the 
 Victoria Cross, arranged regimentally. 
 
 Complete in Three Volumes 8vo, price 7s. 6d. each, cloth gilt, with Fac-simile Illus- 
 trations of the Medals and Ribbons in colours, 
 
 MEDALS OF THE BRITISH ARMY, AND HOW 
 THEY WERE WON. 
 
 By THOMAS CARTEK, Author of "Curiosities of War and Military Studies." 
 
 WEST VOLUME. THE CRIMEAN CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Dedicated to Major-General the Hon. Sir James Yorke Scarlett, K.C.B., Adjutant- 
 General of Her Majesty's Forces. "With Fac-sirailo Illustrations in Colours of 
 The Crimean Medal. I Sardinian War Medal. I Medal for Distinguished 
 
 French War Medal. | Turkish War Medal. Conduct in the Field 
 
 Victoria Cross. 
 
 SECOND VOLUME. EGYPT, PENINSULA, WATERLOO, & SOUTH AFRICA. 
 Dedicated to His Grace the Duke of Richmond, K.G., etc., etc. With Fac-simile 
 
 Illustrations in Colours of 
 
 The Gold Cross. I Talavera Medal. I Medal for Meritorious 
 
 The War Medal. Waterloo Medal. Service. 
 
 Turkish Medal for Egypt. | The Cape Medal. 
 
 THIRD VOLUME. INDIA, CHINA, AND PERSIA. 
 
 Dedicated to General Lord Clyde, G.C.B., etc., etc. With Fac-simile Illustrations 
 in Colours of 
 
 The Indian War Medal. 
 
 Seringapatam Medal. 
 
 The Sutlej and Punjab Medals. 
 
 The China Medal. 
 
 The Second Jellalabad Medal. 
 
 The Maharajapoor Star. 
 
 The Ghuznee Medal. I Medal for the .Second Burmese War. 
 
 Indian Mutiny Medal. | And other Illustrations. 
 
 CRITICAL NOTICES. 
 
 " Such a book has a national interest, and should have been brought out at the 
 public expense. Though this has not been done, a copy wi'l doubtless find its way 
 into every regimental library, for it is a common record of glory, in which every 
 regiment is enrolled." 
 
 " We cannot estimate the good -which may be effected by its pages; for soldiers 
 will be inspired to emulate the deeds which they see so perpetuated, and which our 
 medals embellish. The book is particularly suited for this object, as it contains no 
 strictures on authority, or anything to awaken bad feelings. At the same time, it 
 will serve as an admirable manual for officers who wish to have a knowledge of our 
 military history, which is here brought into a nutshell, though no deed of note is 
 omitted." United Service Magazine. 
 
 " The handsome book before us is one Muster Roll of England's brave men." 
 London Rei:i(>ir. 
 
 ' The illustrations are particularly -well done, and we may say of the work gene- 
 rally that it is worthy of the subject." Russell's Army and Navy Gazette. 
 
 "We must here state that an interesting and officially accurate description of 
 each battle, etc., as well as a description of the medals, is given in each case ; and 
 the pages of the work are adorned by beautifully executed chrome-lithographs of 
 the medals, clasps, ribbons, etc. The fact of Mr. Carter's position in the military 
 executive branch of tae War Department, and thn sanctioned dedications of the 
 several divisions of the work to the late Duke of Richmond, General Lord Clyde, 
 and the Adjutant-General, must greatly add to its value as a book of reference, and 
 as authority upon the subject treated." The Art Journal. 
 
 The Illustrations include the several Medals issued to the Army, from the earliest 
 one granted for Cromwell's victory of Dunbar to the most recent for the Indian 
 Mutiny and Services in China. Fac-similes of the Medals and Ribbons in colours, 
 gold, silver, and bronze, are also given of those conferred upon our troops for the 
 Crimean campaign by the Emperor of the French, King of Sardinia, and the Sultan 
 of Turkey, together with the VICTOKIA CROSS. The names and deeds of the Re- 
 cipients are embodied in the Text. 
 
 London: GROOMBBIDGrE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Eow. 
 
NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. 
 
 THE WORKS OF GRACE AGUILAR. 
 
 HOME INFLUENCE. A Tale for Mothers and Daughters. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, Illustrated, cloth gilt, 5s. 
 
 THE MOTHEE'S RECOMPENSE. A Sequel to Home 
 
 Influence. With a Portrait of the Author, and other Illustrations. Fcap. Svo, 
 cloth gilt, ()s. 
 
 WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP. A Story of Domestic Life. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, Illustrated, cloth gilt, 5s. 
 
 THE VALE OF CEDARS ; or, The Martyr. Fcap. 8vo, 
 
 Illustrated, cloth gilt, 5*. 
 
 THE DAYS OF BRUCE. A Story from Scottish History. 
 
 Fcap. Svo, Illustrated, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 HOME SCENES AND HEART STUDIES. Tales. 
 
 Fcap. Svo, with Frontispiece, cloth gilt, 5. 
 
 THE WOMEN OF ISRAEL. Characters and Sketches 
 
 from the Holy Scriptures. Two vols,, fcap. Svo, cloth gilt, 10s. 
 
 CHEAP SERIES OF POPULAR BOOKS. 
 
 Trice 2s. Gd. each. 
 
 UNDER BOW BELLS : a City Book for all Readers. 
 
 By JOHN HOLLIJTGSHEAU. Price Half-a- Crown. 
 
 ODD JOURNEYS. By JOHN HOLLINGSHEAD. Price 
 
 Half-a-Crown, 
 
 WAYS OF LIFE, By JOHN HOLLINGSHEAD. Price Half- 
 
 a-Crown. 
 
 UNDERGROUND LONDON. By JOHN HOLLINGSHEAD. 
 
 Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 SELF AND SELF-SACRIFICE ; or, Nelly's Story. By 
 
 ANNA LISLE. Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 ALMOST; or, Crooked Ways. By ANNA LISLE. Price 
 
 Half-a-Crown. 
 
 QUICKSANDS. A Tale. By ANNA LISLE. Price Half- 
 
 a-Crown. 
 
 PICTURES IN A MIRROR. By W. MOT THOMAS. 
 
 Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 LYDIA : A Woman's Book. By Mrs. NEWTON CROSLAND. 
 
 Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 A FEW OUT OF THOUSANDS: their Sayings and 
 
 Doings. By AUGUSTA JOHNSTONE. Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 FOOTSTEPS TO FAME : A Book to Open other Books. 
 
 By HAIN FKISWELL. Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 LEAVES FROM A FAMILY JOURNAL. By EMILE 
 
 SOUVESTHE. Price Half-a-Crown. 
 
 London: GKROOMBRIDO-E & SONS, 5, Paternoster Row. 
 
NEW BOOKS AND NSW EDITIONS. 
 
 GEOOMBRIDGE'S SHILLING GIFT BOOKS. 
 
 SELECTED FROM THE MAGNET STORIES. 
 Elegantly bound, cloth gilt, for Presentation. 
 
 UNION JACK, and other Stories. By Mrs. S. C. HALL. 
 
 Containing " Union Jack," " Mamma Milly," "Fanny's Fancies." Illustrated 
 with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 THE TOWN OF TOYS, and other Stories. By SABA WOOD. 
 
 Containing "The Town of Toys," " Hope Deferred," " The Merivales." Illus- 
 trated with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 NO-MAN'S LAND, and other Stories. By THOMAS MILLER. 
 
 Containing "No-Man's Land," "Sweet Spring Time," "Golden Autumn." 
 Illustrated with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 THE SEA SPLEENWORT, and other Stories. By the 
 
 Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe," etc. Containing "The Sea Spleenwort," 
 " The Mice at Play," " The Strayed Falcon." Illustrated with Fifteen Engrav- 
 ings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 LOTTIE'S HALF-SOYEREIGN, and other Stories. By 
 
 Mrs. RUSSELL GRAY. Containing " Lottie's Half-Sovereign," " Music from the 
 Mountain," " My Longest Walk." Illustrated with FifteeaEngravings, cl. gt., Is. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD LORD, and other Stories. By JULIA 
 
 CORVEE. Containing "The Shepherd Lord," "Hereward the Brave," " Caldas: 
 a Story of Stonehenge." Illustrated with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 THE CAPTIYE'S DAUGHTER, and other Stories. By W. 
 
 HEAKD HILLYAED. Containing " The Captive's Daughter," "The Little Trapper," 
 " The Planter's Son." Illustrated with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 THE ORPHANS OF ELFHOLM, and other Stories. By 
 
 FRANCES BROWNED Containing "The Orphans of Elf holm," " The Poor Cousin," 
 " The Young Foresters." Illustrated with Fifteen Engravings, cloth gilt, Is. 
 
 PLAYS POE, HOME ACTIKG- AND YOUM EG'BFOBMEBS. 
 
 BY JULIA CORNER. 
 
 THE KING AND THE TROUBADOUR. A Play for 
 
 Home Acting and Young Performers. With a Coloured Frontispiece and other 
 Illustrations. Imp. 16mo, gilt edges, 1*. 
 
 SLEEPING BEAUTY. A Play for Home Acting and 
 
 Young Performers. With a Coloured Frontispiece and other Illustrations. 
 Imp. 16mo, gilt edges, Is. 
 
 GIFT BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF A SHIP FROM HER CRADLE TO 
 
 HER GRAVE. By GRANDPA BEN. Illustrated with more than One Hundred 
 
 Engravings. Imp. 18mo, cloth gilt, 3s. 
 
 * # * A most attractive book for boys is " The History of a Ship from her Cradle to 
 her Grave." A perfect description of a Ship in all her parts, from the keel to the 
 topsail ; a book to be read and remembered, written by an Author skilled in nautical 
 matters, well read in nautical history, and deeply acquainted with the life of a sailor. 
 
 YESSELS AND YOYAGES. A Book for Boys. By UNCLE 
 
 GEORGE. Illustrated with Twenty Engravings, IGmo, cloth gilt, Is. 6cZ. 
 
 OUT AND ABOUT. A Boy's Adventures. By HAIN 
 
 FRISWELL. Author of " Footsteps to Fame." Illustrated by GEORGE CRPIK- 
 SHANK. Fcap. 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. Qd. 
 
 CHRONICLES OF AN OLD OAK; or, Sketches of English 
 
 Life and History. By EMILY TAYLOR, Author of "The Boy and the Birds," 
 etc. With full-page Illustrations and Vignettes. Imp. 16mo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 CHILDREN OF OTHER LANDS. Some Play-time Tales 
 
 for Children of England. By SARA WOOD, illustrated with Frontispiece and 
 Vignettes. Imp. 16mo, cloth gilt, 3s. Qd. 
 
 London : G-TIOOMBRIDGKE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Bow. 
 
NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. 
 
 Eeady this day, post 8vo, cloth gilt, price 5., 
 
 ENGLAND'S WOEKSHOPS. 
 
 Mr. Gi 
 
 DR. G. L. M. STRAUSS. 
 C. W. QUIN, F.C.S. 
 JOHN C. BROUGH. 
 
 THOMAS ARCHER. 
 W. B. TEGETMEIER. 
 W. J. PROWSE. 
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 METAL WORKSHOPS. 
 
 r. Gillott's Steel Pen Manufactory, at 
 
 Birmingham. 
 
 The Gas Branch and Chandelier Manu- 
 factory of Messrs. Stroud & Co., at 
 
 Birmingham. 
 
 Mr. Charles Reeves' Smallarms Factory. 
 Weighbridges at the- Albion Works of 
 
 Messrs. Pooley & Son, Liverpool. 
 Coal and Iron at Coalbrookdale. 
 A Canister Maker's. 
 Fitzroy Zinc and Galvanized Iron Works. 
 Brass Founding. 
 Brass-Foundry and Tube Works of 
 
 William Tonks & Sons, Moseley 
 
 Street, Birmingham. 
 German Silver. 
 Wrought Iron. 
 
 Dartmouth. Works, Birmingham. 
 Tin Plate. 
 
 Electrum, Albata, and Virginian Plate 
 Manufactory, and Electroplating 
 Works of John Yates & Sons, Pritchett 
 Street and Coleshill Street, Birming- 
 ham. 
 
 Tin-plate, Japanning, and Papier Macho" 
 Works, of Loveridge & Schoolbred, 
 Merridale Street, Wolverhampton. 
 
 Edge Tools. 
 
 Messrs. John Yates & Co.'s Manufactoiy 
 of Edge Tools, Exchange Works, 
 Aston, and Pritchett Street Works, 
 Birmingham. 
 
 Agricultural Implements and Machines. 
 A Day at the Orwell Works, Ipswich. 
 
 Sheffield Steel-ware. 
 
 The Queen's Plate and Cutlery Works of 
 Messrs. Mappin Brothers, Baker's Hill. 
 
 Locks and Keys. 
 
 CHEMICAL WORKSHOPS. 
 The Great Chemical Works of Messrs. A Visit to Messrs. Huskisson & Sons' 
 
 Chance Brothers & Co., at Oldbury. Chemical Factory. 
 
 A Visit to Messrs. Howard & Sons' Perfumes and Perfumery. A Visit to 
 Quinine, Borax, and Tartaric Acid j Messrs. Piesse & Lubin's Laboratory 
 Works, Stratford. 
 
 A Visit to Messrs. Davy & Macmurdo's 
 Chemical Works, at Bermondsey and 
 Upper Thames Street. 
 
 GLASS WORKSHOPS. 
 
 The Glass Manufactory of Messrs. 
 Defries, in Houndsditch. 
 
 of Flowers 
 Messrs. Cliff & Co.'s Chemical Stone- 
 ware Works, Lambeth. 
 
 The Glass Works of Messrs. Chance 
 Brothers & Co., Spon Lane, near 
 Birmingham. 
 
 PROVISION AND SUPPLY WORKSHOPS. 
 
 Price's Patent Candle Company, Sher- 
 wood Works, Battersea. 
 
 Visit to theLambethMarshCandleWorks. 
 
 Visit to a Wax Vesta and Lucifer Match 
 Factory. 
 
 The Bathgate Paraffin Oil Works. 
 
 Visit to a Provision, Ci.orar, and Whole- 
 sale Grocery Establishment. 
 
 Visit to a Tobacco Manufactory. 
 
 Paper Bags. 
 
 Mustard and Starch. A Day at the 
 
 C arrow Works, Norwich. 
 Messrs. Hill, Evans, & Co.'s Vinegar 
 
 Works, at Worcester. 
 Messrs. AUsopp'a Pale Ale Brewery, 
 
 13 urton-on-Trent. 
 
 DOMESTIC WORKSHOPS. 
 
 The Boar's Head Cotton Mills, Messrs. I The Gray's Inn Pianoforte Manufac- 
 Evans & Co., Darley. | tory. 
 
 " A work of great merit, and one which cannot be too highly commended." 
 Observer. 
 
 "No fairy pantomime contains more marvellous transformations than those 
 which are related in the magic records of this book." Sun. 
 
 " The idea of this book is good, and has, so far as we have been able to observe, 
 been very well carried out." Reader. 
 
 "An excellent and interesting account of the processes by which some of our 
 commonest articles of utility are produced, and the wealth, science, and power 
 employed in their production." Notes and Queries. 
 
 London: GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Row. 
 
Price 2s. 6d., illustrated with full-page Engravings and Vignettes, ap- 
 propriately bound in magenta cloth gilt for PRESENTATION. 
 
 THE MAGNET STORIES, 
 
 FOE SUMMER DAYS AND WINTER NIGHTS. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME, 
 
 W hen we were Young. By the Author 
 
 of "A Tnip to Catch a Sunbeam." 
 Lottie's Half-Sovereign. By Mrs. Rus- 
 
 sell Gray. 
 
 Mamma Milly. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
 Havering Hall. By G. E. Sargent. 
 Blind Ursula. By Mrs. Webb (Author 
 
 of "Naomi"). 
 The Clockmaker of Lyons. By E. M. 
 
 Piper. 
 The Mice at Play. Bv the Author of 
 
 " The Heir of Redclyffe." 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME, 
 
 Union Jack. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
 
 Th<* Captive's Daughter. By W. Heard 
 
 Hillyard. 
 Dear Charlotte's Boys. By Emily 
 
 Taylor. 
 
 The Town of Toys. By Sara "Wood. 
 Not Clever. By Frances M. Wilbraham. 
 Sea-Shell Island. By G. E. Sargent. 
 The Pedlar's Hoard. By Mark Lemon. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME, 
 
 The Story of Nelson. By W. H. G. 
 
 Kingston. 
 Lost in the Wood. By Mrs. Alex. Gil- 
 
 christ. 
 
 The Shepherd Lord. By .Tulia Corner. 
 Cousin Davis's Wards. By Margaret 
 
 Howitt. 
 
 Hope Deferred. By Sara Wood. 
 Which was the Bravest? By L. A. 
 
 Hall. 
 The SI- rayed Falcon. By the Author of 
 
 " The Heir of Redclyffe," etc. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH VOLUME, 
 
 The Anel Unawares. By Mary Howitt. 
 
 The Little Trapper. By W. Heard 
 Hillyard. 
 
 Music from the Mountains. By Mrs. 
 Russell Gray. 
 
 Herewnrd the Brave. Bv Jnlia Corner 
 
 Deaf and Dumb. By Mrs. Webb (Au- 
 thor of "Naomi"). 
 
 An Adventure on the Black Mountain. 
 By F. M. Wilbraham. 
 
 No- Man's Land. By Thomas Miller. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIFTH VOLUME, 
 
 Coraline. By the Author of " A Trap 
 
 to Catch a Sunbeam." 
 The Orphans of Elfholm. By Frances 
 
 Browne. 
 
 The Story of a Pebble. By L. A. TTall. 
 The Sea Spleonwort. By the Author of 
 
 "The Heir of RedclynV etc., etc. 
 The Christmas Rose. 'By H. J. Wood. 
 Ellis Gordon of Bolton Farm. By 
 
 Emily Tavlor. 
 The Grateful Indian. By W. H. G. 
 
 Kingston. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME, 
 
 Fanny's Fancies. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. 
 Sweet Sprimr Time. By Thos. Miller. 
 Calda.9, a Story of Stoneheng -.. By 
 
 Julia Corner. 
 
 The Poor Cousin. By Frances Browne. 
 The Planter's Son. By W. Heard 
 
 Hillyard. 
 
 The Merivales. By Sara Wood. 
 Peter Drake's Dream. By Francis 
 
 Freeling Broderip. 
 
 %* Each Volume is so bound ns to form a flistinct and handsome Gift Book. 
 The Six Volumes contain 42 Stories, either of which may be had separately, price 
 M. each. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 " The best guarantee for their excellence is that they are written by our best 
 authors. The stories in the series are all excellent, and very well illustrated." 
 Art Journal. 
 
 "Each of these volumes makes an attractive present." City Press. 
 
 "We recommend THE MAGNET STOBIES strongly to those who wish to provide 
 amusing, instructive, and, at the same time, really good reading for the young, at a 
 trifling outlay." Eng. Churchman. 
 
 "THE MAGNET STOEIES we believe to be the best collection of children's books 
 ever published.'' Brighton Gazette. 
 
 "Published every month, and costing only Threepence, almost every mother in 
 the land may with them delight the juveniles, among whom we know them to be 
 huge favourites." Standard. 
 
 London : GROOMBRIDOE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Row. 
 
NEW BOORS AND NEW EDITIONS. 
 
 Ready this day, illustrated with Coloured Plates, cloth gilt, price 7* Qd 
 
 MICROSCOPE TEACHINGS. 
 
 Descriptions of various Objects of especial Interest and Beauty adapted 
 for Microscopic Observation. Illustrated by the Author's Original Draw- 
 ings. With Directions for the Arrangement of a Microscope, and the collec- 
 tion and Mounting of Objects. 
 By the HON. MRS. WARD, Author of " Telescope Teachings." 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN COLOURED PLATES, 
 
 DELINEATING 
 
 
 Wings of Earwig. 
 Wasp. 
 
 Beetles. 
 
 Wings and Scales of Moths and 
 
 Butterflies. 
 
 Scales of Beetles and Fishes. 
 Hair of Mouse. 
 
 Rabbit. 
 
 Cat. 
 
 Otter. 
 
 Bat. 
 
 Horse. 
 
 Deer. 
 
 Human Hair. 
 Wool. 
 
 Hairs of Insects. 
 Down of Birds. 
 Structure of a Feather. 
 Structure of the Crystalline Lens. 
 Eyes of Dragon Fly. 
 Cricket. 
 
 Lobster. 
 
 Feet of Insects. 
 Petal of Geranium. 
 Pollen of Flowers. 
 Seed Vessels of Ferns. 
 Section of Limestone. 
 Animalcule. 
 
 Circulation of the Blood in Fish, Fro<*, 
 Newt, and Bat. 
 
 " The Telescope and Microscope unfold the same truths, and in all alike, ' while 
 we explore and study, we feel anew sense of the unfailing pftwer and infinite wisdom 
 of the Great Creator, whose mercies are over all his works.' So says Mrs. WAUD 
 in the preface to her charming volume, Microscope Teachings, and few books could 
 better enforce the lesson. It is the best of several popular guides to the use of the 
 Microscope." Examiner. 
 
 " Nothing could be better than the way in which the drawing and colouring are 
 done in the sixteen large coloured plates, each of them containing on an average 
 half-a-dozen beautiful objects, and the text is worthy of the plates." Standard. 
 
 " The work is altogether a most charming and appropriate introduction to the 
 study of the Microscope." Athencpinn. 
 
 "The drawings are accurate and original, and we are happy to welcome Mrs. 
 WAKD amongst the earnest students of microscopic science. To our readers we 
 cannot give better advice than, become purchasers of the book they will not regret 
 the outlay." Electrician. 
 
 SHIRLEY HIBBERD'S WORKS. 
 
 HUSTIC ADORNMENTS FOR HOMES OF TASTE. With 
 
 Recreations for Town Folk in the Study and Imitation of Nature. With Illus- 
 trations, Plain and Coloured. Second Edition, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 14s. 
 THE BOOK OF THE AQUARIUM : Instructions on the Formation, 
 Stocking, and Management, in all Seasons, of Collections of Marine and River 
 Animals and Plants. New Edition, revised and additionally Illustrated. Fcap. 
 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. Gd. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE FRESH- WATER AQUARIUM. Practical 
 Instructions on the Formation, Stocking, and Management, in all Seasons, of 
 Collections of River Animals and Plants. Fcnp. 8vo, cloth gilt, Illustrated, 2s. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE MARINE AQUARIUM. Practical Instruc- 
 tions on the Formation, Stocking, and Management, in all Seasons, of Collec- 
 tions of Marine Animals and Plants. Fcap. 8vo, cloth gilt, Illustrated, 2s. 
 
 THE TOWN GARDEN. A Manual for the Successful Management 
 of City and Suburban Gardens. Second Edition, much enlarged. Fcap. 8vo, 
 cloth, with Illustrations, 3s. Gd. 
 
 PROFITABLE GARDENING. A Practical Guide to the Culture 
 of Vegetables, Fruits, and other useful Out-door Garden Products. Intended 
 for the use of Amateurs, Gentlemen's Gardeners, Allottees, and Growers for 
 Market. Small 8vo, cloth, 3s. Gd. 
 
 London : GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, Paternoster Row. 
 
NEW BOOKS AND NEW* EDITIONS. 
 
 THE TEMPLE ANECDOTES, 
 
 BY 
 
 NEW WOEK BY MOEIEE EVANS. 
 
 PostSvo, cloth, nearly ready, 
 
 SPECULATIVE NOTES 
 
 AND 
 
 NOTES ON SPECULATION. 
 
 IDEAL AND REAL. 
 
 BY D. MOKIEE EVANS, 
 
 Author of " Facts, Failures, and Frauds," " History of the Commercial Crisis," 
 etc. etc. 
 
 NEW NOVEL BY THOMAS MILLEE. 
 
 2 vols. post Svo, cloth, price 21*. 
 
 DOKOTHY DOVEDALE'S TKIALS, 
 
 BY THOMAS MILLEE, 
 
 Author of " Eoyston Gower," " Fair Kosamond," " Lady Jane Grey," and 
 "Gideon Giles." 
 
 DE. PHIPSON'S NEW WOEK. 
 
 Small post Svo, cloth, with Illustrations, nearly ready, 
 
 THE 
 
 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE 
 
 AND 
 
 LOWER ORGANISMS. 
 
 Being Practical Studies on Insects, Crustacea, Mollusca, Worms, 
 Polyps, Infusoria, and Sponges. 
 
 BY DE. T. L. PHIPSON, F.C.S., London. 
 
 London : GKROOMBEIDaE & SOXS, 5, Paternoster Eovr.