1824

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

Mem., tom. iii. pi. 41. f. 1—5.): they are astringent, like the gall nuts, and maybe used, like them, for dyeing black; but the colour produced, though morebeautiful, is said to be less durable. These oak apples are much sought afterannually on the 29th of May, that day being the anniversary of the Resto-ration of Charles II., and commonly known about London as Oak AppleDay. In Yorkshire, it is kept as a half-holiday at the schools, and is knownby the couplet, —

“ Twenty-ninth of May,

Royal Oak Day.”

The oak apples are, also, still occasionally consulted as auguries by thesuperstitious, as they were in the time of Gerard, who says, “ The oke applesbeing broken in sunder about the time of their withering, doe foreshew thesequell of the yeare, as the expert Kentish husbandmen have observed by theliving things found in them; as, if they, finde an ant, they foretell plenty ofgraine to ensue; if a white worm, like a gentili or magot, then they prognos-ticate murren of beasts and cattell; if a spider, then (say they) we shallhave a pestilence, or some such like sickenesse to follow amongst men. Thesethings the learned, also, have observed and noted; for Matthiolus, writingupon Dioscorides, saith that, before they have an hole through them, theycontaine in them either a flie, a spider, or a worme: if a flie, then warreinsueth ; if a creeping worme, then scarcitie of victuals; if a running spider,then followeth great sickenesse or mortalitie.” (Herb., 1341.)

Extravagant as are the inferences deduced, the observations of Gerard, forthe most part, are correct; for diversity of season will affect the developementof these excrescences; and, if it be retarded, the egg, the larva, or perfectcynips, may be detected; and often, instead of the true gall insect, the larva,pupa, or imago, of an ichneumon (or, more commonly, one of the familyChalcidid® belonging to the genus Callimdme Spinola) is found within thetumour : not that this fly has subsisted on the substance of the gall, but theparent ichneumon, or callimome, having deposited an egg within the gallwhile soft, the egg, or larva, of the cynips is preyed on by the parasite, andthe interloper becomes possessed of the other’s abode. When full grown, theoak apple is nearly as large as a moderate-sized dessert apple, and is of apretty appearance, ornamented with yellow and pink. It is not quite spherical,but is irregularly depressed in various parts. Its surface is smooth and shining;and, when broken open, in its interior are found a great number of cells, eachcontaining a fleshy grub, pupa, or perfect insect, according to the period ofthe year; the substance of the gall being fleshy, with numerous fibres runningin the direction of the stems. The perfect insect is of a pale reddish buffcolour, with immaculate wings. It is figuredby Panzer Faun. Ins. Germ., 88. t. 13.;and, notwithstanding the large size of thegall, is much smaller than some other oakCynipidae.

Besides the oak apple, and that speciesemphatically styled “ the gall,” or “ gallnut,” several other excrescences on theoak, from their beauty, or their partial pre-valence, deserve enumeration. The smallround currant gall (fig. 1649.), of whichseveral are frequently scattered through-out the length of the ament thread, orrachis, giving it the appearance whencethey derive their name (Reaum. Mem.,tom. iii. p. 40. f. 1—6.), is produced bythe C. quercus pedunculi ; the perfectinsect of which is of a greyish colour, the wings being marked with anelongated cross. “ There is a remarkable fact accompanying the depositionof the eggs on the dangling stalk of the catkins. The male flowers are