328 



THE UNIVERSE. 



in crushing one of their armies and destroying the pestilen- 

 tial remains. The great captain braved the hottest sun, 

 while stimulating the zeal of his soldiers by his presence. 1 



In portions of the United States beyond the Mississippi 

 Kiver, large sections, comprising whole States, have been 

 ravaged by innumerable swarms of grasshoppers, which 

 devoured every green thing, grass, foliage, growing crops, 

 and left the country as bare as if a fire had swept over it, 

 and the unhappy farmers dependent for their very food 

 upon the voluntary contributions of the more fortunate else- 

 where. 



1 But although the migrating locust must be considered one of the greatest 

 scourges to agriculture, it still renders certain services to man. From the re- 

 motest antiquity he has used it for food, and this practice is 

 kept up in many parts of Asia and Africa, where quantities are 

 consumed. In the Bible days the Jews doubtless ate it exten- 

 sively, seeing that Moses mentions four species, the use of which 

 was permitted by law. 



[Among the ancient Assyrians the locust was also an article 

 of food. On the sculptures from Kouyunjik now in the British 

 Museum, men are represented bearing dried locusts fastened on 

 sticks. The annexed engraving shows the hands of one of them 

 with the sticks of locusts.] 



There are countries where enormous quantities of locusts are 

 still eaten. In the markets of Bagdad they compete with meat. 

 In Arabia they are dried, ground, and substituted for flour in the 

 preparation of bread. In 1693, Germany being desolated by an 

 invasion of these insects, some of the inhabitants ate them, and 

 were unanimous in the opinion that their flesh is analogous to 

 that of crayfish, and of a very agreeable flavor. 



At the present time the Bushmen, one of the most degraded of the human 

 races, living in a country which is utterly naked, the greatest part of them never 

 having seen a tree, people who have neither huts nor dress, subsist almost en- 

 tirely on locusts. These insects, which Livingstone even considers as a benefit 

 conferred by Providence, and the exquisite taste of which he praises, are their 

 favorite food. ' 



152. 



