; 



ON THE EXCESSIVE APPEARANCE OF INSECTS. 97 



has come up upon my land, strong and without number;" 

 and " the field is wasted, the land mourneth ; for the corn 

 is wasted, the new wine is dried up, and the oil languish- 

 eth." In the 2d chapter of the same book, verse 1 to 11, 

 we meet with the most appalling description of another 

 insect plague, where the insects are spoken of as " the 

 army of the Almighty, strong to execute his word." In 

 the 10th chapter of Exodus we find it recorded that a 

 numerous swarm of locusts " covered the face of the 

 whole earth, so that the land was darkened ; and tlfty did 

 eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees 

 which the hail had left." 



(392.) If we turn to the charming work of Kirby and 

 Spence, we shall find many instances of this excessive 

 increase of various insects, showing that the present mul- 

 titudinous appearance of the vastator is perfectly analogous 

 with instances heretofore known. 



(393.) In 1785 many provinces of France were so 

 ravaged by the larva or grub of the cockchafer, that a 

 premium was offered for the best means of destroying 

 them : and some time ago eighty bushels of the beetle 

 were collected by a farmer near Norwich. I remember 

 also this pest visiting the Circus some years ago, and 

 threatening to destroy every plant and every blade of grass 

 there existing. 



(39'.) In 1688 the cockchafers themselves filled the 

 hedges and trees in part of the county of Galway in such 

 infinite numbers, that they were seen clinging to each 

 other in clusters, like bees when they swarm. When on 

 the wing they darkened the air, and produced a sound like 

 that of distant drums. When they were feeding, the 

 noise of their jaws might be mistaken for the sawing of 



5 



