138 LOCUST. 



Ill 1541 incredible hosts afflicted Poland, Wa- 

 lachia, and all the adjoining territories, darkening 

 the sun with their numbers and ravaging all the 

 fruits of the earth. 



One of the largest species of Locust yet known 

 is the Gryllus cristutus of Linnasus, which is five 

 or six times the size of the Gryllus migratorius, 

 and, together with some others of the larger kind, 

 is made use of in some parts of the world as 

 an article of food : they are eaten both fresh and 

 salted, in which last state they are publickly sold 

 in the markets of some parts of the Levant. The 

 quantity of edible substance which they afford is 

 but small, especially in the male insects; but the 

 females, on account of the ovaries, afford a more 

 nutritious sustenance. It is well known that dif- 

 ferent interpretations have been sometimes given 

 of the passage in the sacred writings in which John 

 the Baptist is said to have fed on Locusts and wild 

 honey; and the word aKptfas has been supposed 

 to mean the young shoots of vegetables rather 

 than Locusts; but, since the fact is established, 

 that these insects are still eaten by the inhabitants 

 of the East, there seems not the least reason for ad- 

 mitting any other interpretation than the usually 

 received one. Why should we wonder that the 

 abstemious prophet, during his state of solitary 

 seclusion from the commerce of the world, should 

 support himself by a repast which is to be num- 

 bered, not among the luxuries of life, but merely 

 regarded as a substitute for food of a more agree- 

 able nature? We may also adduce in support of 



