388 



nf Natural ffii 



fresh and salted, in the markets of some 

 parts of the Levant. Hasselquist, alluding 

 to the passage in the New Testament in 

 which John the Baptist is said to have fed 

 on Locusts and wild honey, thus expresses 

 himself : " They who deny insects to have 

 been the food of this holy man, urge that 

 this insect is an unaccustomary and unna- 

 tural food ; but they would soon be con- 

 vinced to the contrary, if they would travel 

 hither, to Egypt, Arabia, or Syria, and take 

 a meal with the Arabs. Roasted Locusts 

 are at this time eaten by the Arabs, at the 

 proper season, when they can procure them ; 

 so that in all probability this dish had been 

 used in the time of St. John." He further 

 says, that when corn is scarce the Arabians 

 grind the Locusts in handmills, or pound 

 them in stone mortars, and bake them as 

 bread ; that he has frequently seen Locusts 

 used by the Arabians, even when there was 

 no scarcity of corn ; but then they stew them 

 with butter, and make them into a kind of 

 fricasee, the flavour of which is by no means 

 disagreeable. Later travellers have fully 

 confirmed these remarks. We may accord- 

 ingly see the folly of that dispute among 

 Divines about the nature of St. John's food 

 in the wilderness some maintaining that 

 the word in the original text means the 

 fruit of a certain tree ; others that a species 

 of bird is intended, &c. ; while those who 

 adhered to the literal meaning were the 

 only ones who were both consistent and 

 orthodox. 



To give a description of the various species 

 of Locusts, would extend this article to an 

 unreasonable length, and at the same time 

 afford but little of useful information : it 

 may be necessary, however, to show how the 

 three large groups or genera may be dis- 

 tinguished from each other : Acrydium. 

 (Spine-breasted Locusts.) The thorax and 

 wing-covers of ordinary dimensions ; a pro- 

 jecting spine in the middle of the breast ; 

 and a little projecting cushion between the 

 nails of all the feet. 2. Locusta. (Locusts 

 proper.) The thorax, and usually the wing- 

 covers also, of ordinary dimensions ; no pro- 

 jecting spine in the middle of the breasts ; 

 cushions between the nails of the feet. 3. 

 Tetrix. ( Grouse Locust. ) The thorax 

 greatly prolonged, tapering to a point behind 

 and covering the whole of the back to the 

 extremity of the abdomen ; wing-covers 

 exceedingly minute, consisting only of a 

 little scale on each side of the body ; fore- 

 part of the breast forming a projection like 

 a cravat or stock, to receive the lower part 

 of the head : no spine in the middle of the 

 breast ; no cushions between the nails. 



" In the South of France," says Dr. Thad- 

 deus Harris, " the people make a business, 

 at certain seasons of the year, of collecting 

 Locusts and their eggs, the latter being 

 turned out of the ground in little masses 

 cemented and covered with a sort of gum in 

 which they are enveloped by the insects. 

 Rewards are offered and paid for their col- 

 lection, half a franc being given for a kilo- 

 gramme (about 2 Ib. 3J oz. avoirdupois) of 

 the insects, and a quarter of a franc for the 

 same weight of their eggs. At this rate 



twenty thousand francs were paid in Mar- 

 seilles, and twenty-five thousand in Aries, 

 in the year 1013 ; in 1824, five thousand five 

 hundred and forty-two, and in 1825, six 

 thousand two hundred francs were paid in 

 \ Marseilles. It is stated that an active boy 

 | can collect from six to seven kilogrammes 

 I (or from 13 Ib. 3oz. to 15 Ib. 7 oz.) of eggs in 

 I one day. The Locusts are taken by means 

 of a piece of stout cloth, carried by four per- 

 sons, two of whom draw it rapidly along, so 

 that the edge may sweep over the surface of 

 the soil, and the two others hold up the cloth 

 behind at an angle of forty-five degrees. 

 This contrivance seems to operate somewhat 

 like a horse-rake, in gathering the insects 

 into winrows or heaps, from which they are 

 I speedily transferred to large sacks. A some- 

 what similar plan has been successfully tried 

 in this country (United States of America), 

 as appears by an account published in the 

 " New England Farmer." It is there stated 

 that, in July, 1826, Mr. Arnold Thompson, 

 of Epsom, New Hampshire, caught, in one 

 evening, between the hours of eight and 

 twelve, in his own and his neighbour's grain- 

 fields, five bushels and three pecks of grass- 

 hoppers, or more properly locusts. His mode 

 of catching them was by attaching two 

 sheets together, and fastening them to a pole, 

 which was used as the front part of the drag 

 The pole extended beyond the width of the 

 sheets, so as to admit persons at both sides 

 to draw it forward. At the sides of the drag, 

 braces extended from the pole to raise the 

 back part considerably from the ground, so 

 that the grasshoppers could not escape. 

 After running the drag about a dozen rods 

 with rapidity, the braces were taken out, 

 and the sheets doubled over ; the insects 

 were then swept from each end towards the 

 centre of the sheet, where was left an opening 

 to the mouth of a bag which held about half 

 I a bushel ; when deposited and tied up, the 

 1 drag was again opened and ready to proceed. 

 When this bag was filled so as to become 

 j burthensome, (their weight is about the 

 same as that of the same measure of corn,) 

 the bag was opened into a larger one, and 

 the grasshoppers received into a new deposit. 

 The drag can be used only in the evening, 

 when the grasshoppers are perched on the 

 top of the grain. His manner of destroying 

 them was by dipping the large bags into a 

 kettle of boiling water. When boiled, they 

 had a reddish appearance, and made a fine 

 feast for the farmer's hogs." 



LONGICORNES; or LONGICORN 

 BEETLES. The name given to a tribe of 

 coleopterous insects, or beetles, which are 

 readily distinguished by the great length of 

 the antennas, and by the first three joints of 

 the tarsi being furnished with a brush. The 

 larvae mostly reside in the interior of trees, 

 or under the bark ; and are either wholly 

 destitute of feet, or have them very small. 

 Both in their larva and perfect state, but 

 particularly in the former, they do much 

 injury to vegetation. Some of the tropical 

 species are brilliantly coloured ; and some 

 are remarkable for exhaling an agreeable 

 musky odour. 



