RA YAGERS OF CROPS 257 



wrought fearful havoc in Algeria, not only devour- 

 ing every scrap of vegetation, but also penetrat- 

 ing in masses into the barley stores and native 

 wheat-pits, so that great barricades had to be 

 raised in front of the granaries to prevent their 

 entry. In the environs of Algiers alone, during 

 the 1845 invasion, it is computed that 14,760,000 

 Locusts were destroyed. In the year 1739 they 

 appeared in vast swarms, covering the country 

 from Tangiers to Mogador. All the region near 

 the Sahara appears to have been ravaged, and 

 the wind blowing the Locusts in thousands 

 into the sea, their decomposing bodies gave rise 

 to an epidemic of disease which laid Barbary 

 waste. 



During the last century the Locusts appeared 

 on several occasions in great numbers, and 

 caused wide-spread havoc in the south of France. 

 The Locusts have a world-wide distribution ; in 

 the south of Europe, India, China, Africa, and the 

 Rocky Mountains of North America, they abound, 

 and from time to time appear in mighty and 

 devastating armies. In size they vary from half 

 an inch to six inches in length. They are all 

 rather handsome, powerfully built insects, with 

 strong hind legs and formidable mouth-organs. 

 They do not undergo a complete metamorphosis, 

 the young Locusts on emerging from the egg 

 resembling their parents in general appearance, 

 save for the absence of wings. 



Many are the methods by which man has 

 sought to combat the ravages of this formidable 

 insect foe. During the Middle Ages the priests 

 frequently exorcised the Locusts, who, however, 



