KERMANSHAH

kermanshah, or kermanshahan, an important province of persia, situated w. of hamadan, n. of luristan, and s. of kurdistan, and extending in the west to the turkish frontier. its population is about 400,000, and it pays a yearly revenue of over £20,000. many of its inhabitants are nomadic kurds and lurs who pay little taxes. the plains are well watered and very fertile, while the hills are covered with rich pastures which support large flocks of sheep and goats. the sheep provide a great part of the meat supply of teheran. the province also produces much wheat and barley, and could supply great quantities for export if the means of transport were better. kermanshah (_kermisin_ of arab geographers), the capital of the province, is situated at an elevation of 5100 ft., in 34° 19 n., and 46° 59 e., about 220 m. from bagdad, and 250 m. from teheran. although surrounded by fortifications with five gates and three miles in circuit, it is now practically an open town, for the walls are in ruins and the moat is choked with rubbish. it has a population of about 40,000. the town is situated on the high road between teheran and bagdad, and carries on a transit trade estimated in value at £750,000 per annum. kermes (arab. _qirmiz_; see crimson), a crimson dye-stuff, now superseded by cochineal, obtained from _kermes ilicis_ (= _coccus ilicis_, lat. = _c. vermilio_, g. planchon). the genus _kermes_ belongs to the _coccidae_ or scale-insects, and its species are common on oaks wherever they grow. the species from which kermes is obtained is common in spain, italy and the south of france and the mediterranean basin generally, where it feeds on _quercus coccifera_, a small shrub. as in the case of other scale-insects, the males are relatively small and are capable of flight, while the females are wingless. the females of the genus _kermes_ are remarkable for their gall-like form, and it was not until 1714 that their animal nature was discovered. in the month of may, when full grown, the females are globose, 6 to 7 millim. in diameter, of a reddish-brown colour, and covered with an ash-coloured powder. they are found attached to the twigs or buds by a circular lower surface 2 millim. in diameter, and surrounded by a narrow zone of white cottony down. at this time there are concealed under a cavity, formed by the approach of the abdominal wall of the insect to the dorsal one, thousands of eggs of a red colour, and smaller than poppy seed, which are protruded and ranged regularly beneath the insect. at the end of may or the beginning of june the young escape by a small orifice, near the point of attachment of the parent. they are then of a fine red colour, elliptic and convex in shape, but rounded at the two extremities, and bear two threads half as long as their body at their posterior extremity. at this period they are extremely active, and swarm with extraordinary rapidity all over the food plant, and in two or three days attach themselves to fissures in the bark or buds, but rarely to the leaves. in warm and dry summers the insects breed again in the months of august and september, according to emeric, and then they are more frequently found attached to the leaves. usually they remain immovable and apparently unaltered until the end of the succeeding march, when their bodies become gradually distended and lose all trace of abdominal rings. they then appear full of a reddish juice resembling discoloured blood. in this state, or when the eggs are ready to be extruded, the insects are collected. in some cases the insects from which the young are ready to escape are dried in the sun on linen cloths--care being taken to prevent the escape of the young from the cloths until they are dead. the young insects are then sifted from the shells, made into a paste with vinegar, and dried on skins exposed to the sun, and the paste packed in skins is then ready for exportation to the east under the name of "pate d'ecarlate." in the pharmacopoeia of the ancients kermes triturated with vinegar was used as an outward application, especially in wounds of the nerves. from the 9th to the 16th century this insect formed an ingredient in the "confectio alkermes," a well known medicine, at one time official in the london pharmacopoeia as an astringent in doses of 20 to 60 grains or more. syrup of kermes was also prepared. both these preparations have fallen into disuse. mineral kermes is trisulphide of antimony, containing a variable portion of trioxide of antimony both free and combined with alkali. it was known as _poudre des chartreux_ because in 1714 it is said to have saved the life of a carthusian monk who had been given up by the paris faculty; but the monk simon who administered it on that occasion called it _alkermes mineral_. its reputation became so great that in 1720 the french government bought the recipe for its preparation. it still appears in the pharmacopoeias of many european countries and in that of the united states. the product varies somewhat according to the mode of preparation adopted. according to the french directions the official substance is obtained by adding 60 grammes of powdered antimony trisulphide to a boiling solution of 1280 grammes of crystallized sodium carbonate in 12,800 grammes of distilled water and boiling for one hour. the liquid is then filtered hot, and on being allowed to cool slowly deposits the kermes, which is washed and dried at 100° c.; prepared in this way it is a brown-red velvety powder, insoluble in water. see g. planchon, _le kermes du chene_ (montpellier, 1864); lewis, _materia medica_ (1784), pp. 71, 365; _memorias sobre la grana kermes de espana_ (madrid, 1788); adams, _paulus aegineta_, iii. 180; beckmann, _history of inventions_. kermesse (also kermis and kirmess), originally the mass said on the anniversary of the foundation of a church and in honour of the patron, the word being equivalent to "kirkmass." such celebrations were regularly held in the low countries and also in northern france, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing and sports of all kinds. they still survive, but are now practically nothing more than country fairs and the old allegorical representations are uncommon. the brussels kermesse is, however, still marked by a procession in which the effigies of the mannikin and medieval heroes are carried. at mons the kermesse occurs annually on trinity sunday and is called the procession of lumecon (walloon for _limacon_, a snail): the hero is gilles de chin, who slays a terrible monster, captor of a princess, in the grand place. this is the story of george and the dragon. at hasselt the kermesse (now only septennial) not only commemorates the christian story of the foundation of the town, but even preserves traces of a pagan festival. the word kermesse (generally in the form "kirmess" ) is applied in the united states to any entertainment, especially one organized in the interest of charity. see demetrius c. boulger, _belgian life in town and country_ (1904).