178 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. XII.' 



especially with regard to their devastations ; but he 

 states that the Arabians distinguish several kinds 

 of these insects, to which they give separate names. 

 They refer only to the delicacy of its flesh, and not 

 to the nature of the insect. The red locust is 

 termed Muken, as it is esteemed by the epicures 

 much fatter and more succulent than the light lo- 

 cust, which is called by them Dubbe, because it has 

 a tendency to produce diarrhoea. The inhabitants 

 of Arabia, Persia, Africa, and Syria, are accustomed 

 to eat them. The Turks have an aversion to this 

 kind of food, but if the Europeans express the same, 

 the Arabians remind them of their fondness for 

 crabs, &c. This kind of food, however, is supposed 

 to thicken the blood and produce melancholy. The 

 noise they made, says Niebuhr, in flying, is frightful 

 and stunning, like that of a waterfall, but it is com- ' 

 pared by Bochart to the sound of a flame of fire 

 driven by the wind, and the effect of their bite to 

 that of fire. 



Dr. Shaw, who was a witness of the devasta- 

 tions of these insects in Barbary in 1724, thus de- 

 scribes their habits. They first appeared in March, 

 when the wind had been southerly for some time. 

 In the beginning of April their numbers were so 

 vastly increased, that in the heat of the day they 

 formed themselves into large swarms, that appeared 

 like clouds, and darkened the sun. In the middle , 

 of May they began to disappear, retiring into the 

 plains to deposite their eggs. In June the young 

 brood began to make their appearance, forming 

 many compact bodies of several hundred yards 

 square, which, afterward, marching forward, climbed 

 the trees, walls, and houses, eating every thing 

 which was green in their way. The inhabitants, 

 to stop their progress, laid trenches all over their 

 fields and gardens, which they filled with water. 

 Some placed large quantities of heath, stubble, and 

 such like combustible matter in rows, and set them 



