as the κὀκκος φοινικὀς, while in later times the name Kermès, from the Arabic, came into general use.
For many centuries the nature of the Kermes remained uncertain. To all appearances it was a berry, and the opinion that it was of purely vegetable origin prevailed. However, it appears that Quinqueran de Beaujeu, as early as 1551, published a book on the productions of Provence, entitled De laudibus Gallo-Provinciæ, in which he clearly indicated that the Kermes was an insect, and described its transformations. The supposed berries, says he, are the mothers, who presently have families of innumerable very minute worms. These latter locate upon the twigs at various points, increase in size, and at length look no longer like animals, but peas.
Planchon, to whom we are indebted for the reference to Quinqueran, goes on to remark that it is curious that after these observations had been published, many intelligent writers showed hopeless confusion upon the subject. In particular, it had been observed that from the Kermes sometimes issued small four-winged insects not unlike those coming from the oak-apples or galls. Hence it was concluded that the Kermes must be a sort of plant gall, wholly made up of
