116 LOCUSTIDiE — LOCUSTS. 



people of Morocco that he could destroy all the Locusts by 

 a chemical process.^ 



The superstitious Tartars of the Crimea, in order to rid 

 their country of its most destructive enemy, the Locusts, at 

 one time sent over to Asia Minor, whence these insects 

 had come, to procure Dervises to drive them away by their 

 incantations, etc. These divines prayed around the mosques, 

 and, as a charm, ordered water to be hung out on the mina- 

 rets, which, with the prayers, were meant to entice a species 

 of blackbird to come in multitudes and devour the Locusts ! 

 The water thus hung out is said to be still preserved in the 

 mosques. On this occasion, the Dervises collected eighty 

 thousand rubles, the poorest shepherd giving half a ruble. -^ 



We read in "Purchas's Pilgrims," of Locusts being exor- 

 cised and excommunicated, so that they immediately flew 

 away !^ From this interesting collection the following is 

 clipped : "In the yeere 1603, at Fremona, great misery hap- 

 pened by Grasse-hoppers, from which Paez freed the Catho- 

 likes, by Letanies and sprinkling the Fields with Holy-water ; 

 when as the Fields of Heretikes, seuered only by a Ditch, 

 were spoyled by them. Yea, a Heretike vsing this sacred 

 sprinkling, preserued his corne, which, to a Catholike neg- 

 lecting in one Field, was lost, and preserued in another by 

 that coniured aspersion (so neere of kinne are these Locusts 

 to the Deuill, which is said to hate Holy-water)."^ 



In the south of Europe rewards are oflFerecl for the col- 

 lection both of the Locusts and their eggs; and at Mar- 

 seilles, it is on record that, in the year 1613, 20,000 francs 

 were paid for this purpose. In 1825, the same city paid a 

 sum of 6200 francs for destroying these pests to agricul- 

 ture.^ We read in the eighty-first volume of the Gentle- 

 man's Magazine, that most of the Agricultural Societies of 

 Italy have offered premiums for the best method of destroy- 

 ing Locusts : that in many districts several thousand persons 

 are employed in searching for the eggs; that in four days 

 the inhabitants of the district of Ofauto collected at one 

 time 80,000 sacks full, which were thrown into the river.'' 



1 Kichardson's Sahara, i. 338. 



2 The Mirror, xv. 429. 



3 Pllr/r., ii. 1047. 

 * Ibid., ii. 1186. 



5 Baird's Cyclop, of Nat. Set. 



6 Gent. Mag., Ixxxi. (Pt. II.} 273. 



i 



