Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-01-07

.s--s@A' = BsSA4%<t1y 4t5tAA3N t1uG ana still
be indelibles said chemist, pointing 10
an array Of small BOTTLES and an equal
number Of very curious animals. !. and
have been experimenting fos several years
TO see what can be done, bat it's uphill
work. The animals that / find most
available - ink-bearcrs, and consc-
quently makers. are cotilinad mainly to
the tropics. No. theirs h nothing De.
culiar about the idea. The ink we use
to-day, or much Of the best Of Il. IS an
animal production. OF, I'd be more cor
rect, the result Of the work of an animal.
Insects, as the cynipidae, hymcnoptera.
cecidomyudae and dipteFa punctnfe GER
tain plants with their cvipositors for the
purpose Of oepOsiting sglEs. and in some
way they cause an abnormal growth Of
the wood. 80 that the larvsn are IN time
surrounded by round befl of wood. out
OF which the perfect inaecs finally makes
its way. These gals, or chose Of certain
insects, constitute the principal ingre-
dent OF certain inks. La our common
black ink Chinese gals and tincture Of
iron form the principal parts. Some
times logwood Is used, bus each dealer
has his own secret, and, Of course, claims
70 make the best ink.
Calls are generally knnwn by COM
mon names, and their nature is little
suspected by their fadeF. Many are
known as oak apples and currant berries,
and In some countries so beautiful are
they that they ase strung on wire and
used in ornamental work OF various kinds.
The so-called Dead Sea apple is nothing
more than gall, produced by Cynips in
sano, and here are some that in Cali
fornia were called flea seeds. The per-
son who sent them to me ansisted that
there was something supernatural about
them. He brought them Sin q wooden
box, padded with cottonS to prevent
them, he said, from heing dashed TO
pieces, as they leaped about in a most as
tonishing manner. Some N them were
what are called devil beaIs. They are
minute seeds, triangular liz shape, and
when placed upon the table they COM
menced to roll about aud leap into the
air in the most remarkable, way. cut
one open, however, and Soon showed
the skcptic the motive bower, which
was a fat, light-colored lepidopterous
larva that, when moth, e known as
carpOcapsa dehaisina. 1t was the struC-
giles Of this grub that maAe the seed
jump.
The most curious seeds were those Of
the tree known as Brincader. They are
about as large as those OF .he mustard,
and when they fall from The tree they
keep up continual hopping upon the
ground, so that you would assuredly
think that innumeralsle sand -hoppers
were jumping about. But the secret is
that each little seed contains the larva OF
q small, dark-hued Cynips saltatorious.
| have observed this myself, and the
noise of the leaping seeds sounds like the
pattering of rain upon the leaves, and
they can hop distanrea Of several
inches.
1.-THE subject of gals iii an important
one aside from the fact tllat ink Is OBJ
tanned from them, as they are used as
medicine In various WAYS In India the
Eomah women tattoo themselves with
gall juice, and the biaster, dyer, etc, If
they only knew il, are greatly indebted
TO the maternal labors of the most insig-
nificant insects. The Importance of the
gall business can be seen from this list,
and these oil go to the ink trade. and it
only gives those that are inpCrted into
England yearly; Germany sends 100 tons,
valued at so, 900; Turkey about $50 tons,
valued at 500, COO; Egypt eighty tons,
China 90; Bombay. 100. In China,
thousands Of persons get Giving out Of
the gall business. They ATE known M
woopei-tsze and are protlaced by an
aphis on an anaccrdiaceouu tree. The
gals are generally collected before win.
ter, just previous to the FIRST frost. and
are generally submitted 10 steam, to kill
the inclosed insect, and dyisd and then
shipped BY the pound OF hnadred weight.
These bottles, howevas,n said the
investigator, holding up several walls
containing ink Of dilferans icolOrs, all
contain the natural ink o9 various ami
mails This one that is so pure 4 black
contains the contents Of Tire ink bags Of
cutie fishes. and is alrea0s the seDia Of
commerce that was formerly used much
more than 1t present. Tais is not all
taken from living sounds. In certain
localities fossil sQuids arh found millions
Of years old, and in tie ssnter Of the
hardened mass win be eeensa small black
seeming Stone, which Ii tie sepia ink.
When this il softened ink can BE- made
from IL and ID often used Some time
age member Of the Geological Survey
came to me for one Of these fossil ink
bags. and he used it to wrisA his report,
that contained q description Of these
very creatures. So thair history was
chronlcled. perhaps, II II said before,
millions OF years after sheis extinction
BY the ink thar was khti$ protection
then
Yes, the ink is used to eject when
khnw nrn fnH1nwnd III stsr4tn1fmHc kHn~a