SAID TO BE VENOMOUS. 75 



deer when pasturing. In a certain sense the lemmings are 

 quite as injurious to the rein-deer as the wolves ; for the deer 

 is thereby not only prevented from benefiting by his natural 

 food, the nutritious rein-deer moss (Cetraria rangiferina, 

 Ach.) ; but it is believed to lose its appetite for that vege- 

 table. The Lapps, moreover, look upon the lemming as 

 poisonous. That this is the case, I cannot suppose ; but it 

 is a fact, and one that all to whom I have spoken on the 

 subject have corroborated, that during those years in which 

 the lemming makes its appearance, the flesh of the rein-deer 

 is bad and lean. The rein-deer are besides delayed in their 

 progress by the lemmings left by owls in the trees ; and the 

 Lapps in the parish of Enare have related to me that for an 

 hour together they will remain under such trees, to the 

 branches of which the lemmings are suspended, in expecta- 

 tion of their falling to the ground. What it can be that 

 impels the rein-deer, which is an herbivorous animal, to 

 pursue and feed on the lemming, I have never been able to 

 discover." 



The migrations of the lemming, as known, take place 

 periodically, and in such immense armies as almost to darken 

 the face of the country. For many years in succession these 

 animals are not seen, when all at once, and without any 

 assignable cause, they appear in prodigious numbers ; and the 

 hills and the valleys, the swamps, and even the craggy rocks 

 that lie in their route, are literally alive with these remarkable 

 little creatures. 



The notions of ancient authors respecting the lemming and 

 its migrations, are very curious. 



" In Helsingia and provinces adjacent within the diocese 

 of Upsala," says Olaus Magnus, " small beasts with four 



