tCOCHI'NEAL, a dye-stuff employed in dyeing scarlet and crimson, and in the prepara tion of carmine (q.v.) and lake (q.v.).
IC. consists simply of the bodies of the females of a species of coccus (q.v.), called C. •cacti, because it feeds upon plants of the cactus family, particularly on one, therefore des ignated the C. plant, but known in Mexico as the NOPAL (opuntia cockinillifera), treated of in the article CACTEX. This plant is nearly allied to the prickly pear. It assumes a somewhat tree-like form. Its fruit, although eatable, is very inferior to that of the prickly pear. It is a native of Mexico and other warns parts of America, and is assiduously cul tivated, in order to what may be called the cultivation of the valuable insect which it sup ports. This cultivation was carried on by the Mexicans long before the country was known to Europeans. It is now carried on also in some parts of the West Indies, and in the island of Teneriffe. The C. plant and insect have been introduced into Algeria; but no considerable success has yet attended"the attempts to introduce them into the East Indies, although the East India company once offered a reward of £6,000 for their iutroduction.—Other species of opuntia appear to be as suitable for the C. insect as 0. coehinillifera, particularly 0. Hornandezii, which is employed in Mexico, and 0. tuna, which is chiefly used in Peru.
The C. insect is a small creature, a pound of C. being calculated to contain 70,000 in a dried state. The male is of a deep red color, and has white wings. The female, which is wingless, is of a deep brown color, covered with a white powder; flat beneath, convex above. When a plantation of the C. plant has been formed—by cuttings which are ready to receive the insect in eighteen months—the cultivator (n,opalero) procures branches laden with C. insects; and keeping the branches, of which their succulency admits, till the mother-insects have laid their eggs, he places their bodies, with the eggs which they cover, in little nests formed of some cottony substance upon the C. plants, and the young insects, when hatched, soon spread over them. The gathering of the C. is very tedious, and is accomplished by brushing the branches with the tail of a squirrel or other animal. The insects are killed by boiling water, by heating them in ovens, or by exposure to the heat of the sun. They must be speedily killed, to prevent them from laying their eggs, which diminishes their value. When killed and dried, they may be kept for any length of time without injury. The different appearances presented by C. as brought to market, are ascribed to the different modes of killing the insect. C. is one of the most important exports of Mexico.