PERIODICAL MIGRATIONS. 77 



At these times they gather in great flocks together, consisting 

 of many thousands, like the hosts of God, to execute His 

 will i. e., to punish the neighbouring inhabitants by des- 

 troying the seed, corn, and grass ; for where this flock 

 advances, they make a visible pathway on the earth or 

 ground, cutting off all that is green; and this they have 

 power and strength to do till they reach their appointed 

 bound, which is the sea, in which they swim a little about, 

 and then sink and drown. Their young they carry with 

 them on their backs, or in their mouths. These vermin 

 prognosticate a bad harvest wherever they take their course ; 

 but in return the countryman expects good hunting or sport 

 of the bear, fox, marten, and several other large animals 

 which follow these creatures, to whom they are delicious 

 food. There remains one thing dubious, which is this : 

 whether it is to be believed, according to common report, 

 that the lemmings do fall down out of the air, which 

 many, both in these and former times, will pretend to say 

 they have seen with their own eyes. Wormius, Scaliger, 

 and other great authorities, do not suppose this to be im- 

 possible; they imagine that the lemmings, like frogs and 

 other small creatures, may, in their embryos, be attracted 

 to the clouds, and being then come to maturity, may drop 

 down." 



Though naturalists have sorely puzzled their brains to 

 account for the wonderful migrations of the lemming, we 

 appear to be just as much in the dark as ever. Some 

 attribute the wanderings of these animals to their being 

 more than usually prolific during particular years an 

 argument so senseless as to refute itself. Others say that 

 want of sustenance, consequent on their too rapid increase, 



