3ia OF INSECTS IN GENERAT,. 



leviating or preventing the numerous mifcljiefs they oc-. 

 cafion. Infinite fwarms of thefe animals annually defo- 

 late whole provinces ; others attack our gardens and cul- 

 tivated grounds, where they commit endlefs devaftation^ 

 upon the corn, vegetables, and fruit trees. Nor are 

 their depredations coniined to the Gelds ; they enter the 

 habitations of man, and by dcftroying the timber, gra- 

 dually reduce them to ruins. They dcilroy his furniture 

 and clothing ; fome of them fpare not even his perfon^ 

 tormenting it long before the period which nature has 

 deilined it to become their legitimate prey. Here, then, 

 is a wide field laid open for lludy ; and the perfon who 

 could inform mankind how to remove or alleviate thelc 

 niifchiefs, would defcrve better of his fpecies than if he 

 had difcovesed the longitude. 



Thus, by a clofer examination of the deflrufllve pow- 

 ers of infcfts, we iliall have melancholy proofs of their 

 importance in the fyftem of nature, and be perfuaded, 

 that however defpicablc they may appear, there is no 

 clafs of animals whofe hiftory more nearly concerns us, 

 and which better deferves the attention of the naturalift. 



Tlicre are four different fpecies of the locuft which are 

 remarkably deftruftive. Almolf every year, whole pro- 

 vinces, the moil fextile in ji/Jia and Africa, are laid waue 

 by their depredation. In Tennis and Algiers., fwarms of 

 the gr'iUus migrator'ius appear fo numerous, that they 

 darken the face of the llcy, like a thick cloud. Thefe 

 pernicious animals are wafted there by the foutherly 

 winds in the month of April : In May fhey take their 

 departure fur the interior pr.rts of the country, to propa- 

 gate their young j thefe make their appearance in their 

 larijci ilate, during the month of JunCj when they com*- 

 mit vaft depredations. The firll columns, which pervade' 

 2 the 



