Insects that have afforded Food to Man. 135 



by the natives, and are esteemed, when properly cooked, rich and 

 delicate eating. Linnaeus also, in a remark relating to this species, 

 adds, "Larvae assatag in deliciis habentur." — Vid. Linn. System. 

 Nat. p. G06. 



In terminating the Coleopteral order it may be here stated that 

 there can be little doubt that various other species of grubs of the 

 genus Calandra are eaten by different nations in the widely sepa- 

 rated regions of the globe. 



Orthoptera. 

 1. Locusta migratoria, Linn. 



Locusts, as I have before stated, were eaten in the early stages 

 of the world, and it is only by critical commentators that this point 

 seems to have been disputed. 



The well authenticated fact of various nations eating locusts 

 as food, determines a question concerning which commen- 

 tators on the Bible have long disputed, namely, whether the 

 Acrides of John the Baptist were locusts according to the literal 

 sense of the word, or whether aKpihe was a term given to the 

 pods of a species of cassia. The first, in my humble opinion, is 

 the only correct interpretation of the word. The hypercritic 

 argues that locusts are an unnatural food, forgetting that they 

 were allowed to be eaten by Moses, the Jewish lawgiver. Now, 

 if they were eaten in early days, and are eaten at present by 

 people frequenting the very same desert which John the Baptist 

 inhabited, what reason have we to think that they were ever aban- 

 doned in his time ? None whatever ! Locusts will still continue to 

 be eaten, and critics still endeavour to refine, but all their acumen 

 and learning will never convert an insect to a fruit. 



The first species I allude to is the Locusta migratoria, commonly 

 eaten in the Crimea : it is often the precursor of Loc. Tatarica. 

 Under the name of migratory locust, there are undoubtedly se- 

 veral species confounded. The trivial name of tnigratoria is 

 characteristic of many of the species, and has probably been the 

 cause of the confusion. Occasionally they visit various parts of 

 Europe, and sometimes England, migrating chiefly from the 

 Crimea. 



2. Locusta Tatarica, Linn. 



This insect is eaten commonly in the Crimea. When tliese 

 animals arrive in swarms, the wlick vegetable produce disappears. 

 Nothing escapes them, from the leaves of the forest to the herbs 



h2 



