prevalent Disorders, S^c, mth Volcanic Emanations, 197 



had never been remembered, and it was then attributed to want 

 of fish in the sea [An. Reg.), probably occasioned by some sub- 

 marine convulsion driving the fish away. In 1799, a black 

 worm, similar to the one named above, destroyed whole forests 

 in America, stripping the trees, so as to leave them as bare as 

 in winter. {An. Reg.) 



In 1833, birds increased prodigiously, and, inconsequence 

 of the drought, were driven to desperate measures. In Sep- 

 tember the rooks, in Gloucestershire, took to robbing or- 

 chards. (Public Journals.) A writer in a London journal 

 says, small birds so much increased in the vicinity of Mar- 

 low, that two whole crops of corn, besides beans, peas, 

 and fruit, were devoured by them. (St. James's Chronicle, 

 Feb. 1. 1834.) After the cessation of the black death, " mar- 

 riages were almost without exception prolific ; double and 

 triple births were more common than at other times " 

 (Hecker, p. 79.); and such was the case after the cholera, in 

 1833 and 1834, as it is generally remarked. In February, 

 1834, abundance of mackerel, in innumerable shoals, visited 

 the coasts of England, as in 1833.* 



In September, 1 785, vast numbers of the West India shark 

 appeared in the British Channel, and many were taken by 

 the Brighton fishermen. {An. Reg., 1785.) In 1783, jin- 

 usual numbers of wasps and aphides appeared ; and thousands 

 of acres of turnips were destroyed by the satv/lj/. (Gilbert 

 White, Nat. Hist. Selborne.) In 1785, aphides infested the 

 south of England. {Ibid.) In 1796, damage to the amount 

 of 100,000/. was done to turnips in Devonshire, by the black 

 Jly. (Jardine on White, quoting Kirby and Spence.) In 

 1762 and in 1782, myriads of yellow flies visited the coast of 

 Norfolk. {Phil, Trans., 1783.) They are described as being seen 

 to be blown over from the sea, and piled dead on the shore 

 in heaps. They were parents of a black cankerworm, which 

 in those years did infinite damage to turnips. They were so 

 numerous, that, in their search for that plant, they covered 

 the roads, gates, and hedges. So, at the epoch of the black 

 death (1333 — 1359), " the insect tribe was wonderfully called 

 into life, as if animated beings were destined to complete the 

 destruction." (Hecker, p. 44.) 



If we go to the Scriptures, we find the palmerworm, the 

 caterpillar, the cankerworm, the locust, the frog, &c., de- 

 scribed as miraculously increased at certain epochs, and 



* Mr. Bakewell, in a letter, alludes to this fact in conjunction with the 

 earthquakes at Chichester, which have occurred between Sept. 1833 and 

 March, 1834 : a very probable connection. Three of those earthquakes, 

 those of September, November, and January, were felt here. 



o 3 



