But bees are not the only wax-makers in the world. There is, in China, an insect called the white wax insect, which, in its caterpillar state, deposits a sort of wax on the branches of trees. Sir George Staunton tells us that accident led him to observe some swarms of uncommon insects busily employed upon the branches of a shrub, not at that time in fruit or flower, but whose leaves and general growth somewhat resembled our privet. These insects, not much bigger than common flies, were of curious structure, having an appendage to their bodies, in shape like the tail feathers of our common fowl. This, as well as the whole body, was either perfectly white, or covered with a white powder, some of which was left in the track of the insect on the stems and leaves of the shrub. This was the early stage of the insect’s life, and that in which wax is formed. The wax is described as being a greasy white substance when first deposited on the leaves and branches, where it soon hardens into a more compact form. The insect in its perfect state is of a blackish chestnut colour, and is furnished with wings. It deposits its eggs in little pellets about the size of a grain of millet, but these enlarge in the spring, and being attached to the branches, give to the shrub exactly the appearance of being loaded with fruit. About Midsummer these pellets open and disclose the insects, which soon begin to crawl about the branches and deposit wax. It is in the autumnal months that the Chinese scrape the wax from the branches of trees, collecting it in a vessel, and then melting and straining it. They next coagulate it by pouring it into a vessel of cold water, and this gives it a pasty form, in which it is easily made into cakes of the required size. This wax is exceedingly white and glossy, and when mixed with oil and made into candles, it is even superior for that purpose to the wax made by bees. Sir G. Staunton says that the product of these insects not only coagulates into wax, but will cause oleaginous substances to coagulate likewise, so that if one part of this wax be dissolved in three parts of heated olive oil, the whole, when cold, will coagulate into a mass, possessing a degree of firmness nearly equal to that of bees-wax. A Chinese writer states that it was not until the dynasty of Yuen that the wax made by these insects became known in China; but that as soon as its properties were ascertained, persons of all ranks began to use it, both in medicine and domestic economy. The medicinal qualities of the wax were much extolled by Chinese physicians, and a curious use of it is stated in Grosier’s China, namely, that the Chinese orators, when about to speak in public and needing assurance, previously eat an ounce of this wax to prevent swoonings. But apart from virtues which existed chiefly in the fancy of the Chinese, the uses of this substance in making candles, and for the ordinary purposes to which bees-wax is applied, are highly important.