Note 1 — Chapter VI · THE KERMES OF THE OAK1
Bernard Miall translation
Kermes in French, the word is pronounced Kurmees in English. The dried bodies of the female insect were long supposed to be galls or berries: they were even known to trade as “kermes berries,” and were sometimes used in medicine. It is allied to the cochineal insect, although the female of the latter is very obviously an insect, browsing on the juice of certain cactuses. The kermes is found on several kinds of oak, but principally on the kermes oak, a dwarf evergreen, Q. Coccifera.—Translator’s Note. ↑