_Oak-galls_, _Nut-galls_, _Aleppo_ or _Turkey-galls_ (Fr., _Noix de Galle_, _Galle d'Alep_; Ger., _Levantische_ or _Aleppische Gallen_, _Galläpfel_).--These are formed by the punctures of _Cynips_ [_Diplolepis_] _Gallæ tinctoriæ_ on _Quercus lusitanica_ var. _infectoria_ [_Q. infectoria_], a shrubby tree of Greece, Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Syria, and probably other varieties and even species of oak. The female insect is furnished with a delicate ovipositor, by means of which she pierces the tender shoots of the tree, and lays her eggs therein. In the centre of the full-grown gall, the larva is hatched and undergoes its transformations, finally (in 5-6 months) becoming a winged insect, and boring for itself a cylindrical exit-hole. The best commercial galls are those which have been gathered while the insect is still in the larval state. Such have a dark olive-green colour, and are comparatively heavy; but after the fly has escaped, they become yellowish-brown in hue, and lighter. Hence they are distinguished in the London market as "blue" or "green," and "white." In Smyrna, they are classified as "white," "green," and "black," the first two sorts generally fetching nearly the same price, while the black obtain considerably more, the approximate quotations being: white and green, per Turkish _oke_ (of 2·83 lb.), 8-1/2-9 _piastres_ (of 2_d._); black, 13-1/2-14 _piastres_. The "nuts" come mostly from Melemen, Cassaba, and Magnesia, also from the Syrian coasts, being plentiful on the east of the river Jordan, and are chiefly forwarded to France, England, and Salonica. The triennial yield is said to be invariably the best. They begin to reach Smyrna from the interior towards the end of July. The crop of 1880 was estimated at over 50,000 _okes_. The province of Aleppo, which used to afford 10,000-12,000 _quintals_ (of 2 cwt.) annually, only exported 3000 in 1871. The galls collected in the Kurdistan mountains are marketed at Diarbekir, and sent thence to Trebizonde for shipment. Bussora, Bagdad, and Bushire also export considerable quantities. _Knoppern_, a species of gall formed from the immature acorns of _Quercus pedunculata_ and _Q. sessiliflora_, are largely used for tanning throughout Austria.