﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  LOCUSTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  OLD 
  WORLD. 
  649 
  

  

  however, 
  so 
  thick 
  together 
  but 
  that 
  tboy 
  could 
  escape 
  a 
  stick 
  waved 
  

   backward 
  and 
  forward. 
  When 
  they 
  alighted, 
  they 
  were 
  more 
  numerous 
  

   ihan 
  the 
  leaces 
  in 
  the 
  field, 
  and 
  the 
  surface 
  became 
  reddish 
  instead 
  of 
  

   green. 
  The 
  swarm 
  having 
  once 
  alighted, 
  the 
  individuals 
  flew 
  from 
  side 
  

   to 
  side 
  in 
  all 
  directions. 
  Locusts 
  are 
  not 
  an 
  uncommon 
  pest 
  in 
  this 
  

   country. 
  Already 
  during 
  this 
  season 
  several 
  smaller 
  swarms 
  had 
  come 
  

   up 
  from 
  the 
  souih, 
  where, 
  apparently, 
  as 
  in 
  all 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  

   they 
  are 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  deserts. 
  The 
  poor 
  cottagers 
  in 
  vain 
  attempted, 
  by 
  

   lighting 
  fires, 
  by 
  shouts, 
  and 
  by 
  waving 
  branches, 
  to 
  arrest 
  the 
  attack. 
  

   This 
  species 
  of 
  locust 
  closely 
  resembles, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  is 
  identical 
  with, 
  

   the 
  Gryllus 
  migratorius 
  of 
  Syria 
  and 
  Palestine." 
  

  

  THE 
  LOCUSTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  OLD 
  WORLD. 
  

  

  That 
  the 
  calamities 
  which 
  have 
  befallen 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  are 
  

   less 
  grievous 
  than 
  those 
  resulting 
  from 
  locust 
  invasions 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  

   Worldj 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  general 
  similarity 
  in 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  locusts 
  the 
  

   world 
  over, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  causes 
  of 
  their 
  migrations 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   general 
  nature, 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  a 
  perusal 
  of 
  the 
  following 
  statements, 
  

   which 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  from 
  sources 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  inaccessible 
  to 
  most 
  readers. 
  

   For 
  brief 
  popular 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  World 
  locusts 
  the 
  works 
  of 
  Kirby 
  

   and 
  Spence, 
  Westwood, 
  and 
  of 
  subsequent 
  compilers 
  may 
  be 
  consulted. 
  

   The 
  following 
  historical 
  sketch 
  of 
  locust 
  invasions 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  World 
  is 
  

   condensed 
  from 
  an 
  article 
  by 
  Rudolf 
  Gottschati'in 
  " 
  Uuserezeit," 
  (Febru- 
  

   ary, 
  1876, 
  Leipzig). 
  The 
  first 
  account 
  after 
  that 
  of 
  Joel, 
  in 
  the 
  Bible, 
  

   whose 
  remarks 
  apply 
  to 
  Egypt, 
  Syria, 
  Palestine, 
  and 
  Asia 
  Minor, 
  is 
  the 
  

   statement 
  of 
  Ororius, 
  that 
  in 
  ihe 
  year 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  3800 
  certain 
  regions 
  

   of 
  North 
  Africa 
  were 
  visited 
  by 
  monstrous 
  swarms; 
  the 
  wind 
  blew 
  them 
  

   into 
  the 
  sea, 
  and 
  the 
  bodies 
  washed 
  ashore 
  " 
  stank 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  corpses 
  

   of 
  a 
  hundred 
  thousand 
  men." 
  Another 
  locust 
  plague, 
  resulting 
  in 
  

   a 
  famine 
  and 
  contagious 
  disorders, 
  according 
  to 
  St. 
  Augustine, 
  oc- 
  

   curred 
  in 
  the 
  kingdom 
  of 
  Masiuissa, 
  and 
  caused 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  about 
  

   800,000 
  men. 
  Pliny 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  locusts 
  visited 
  Italy, 
  flying 
  from 
  

   Africa. 
  In 
  Europe 
  locust 
  invasions 
  have 
  been 
  recorded 
  since 
  1333, 
  

   when 
  they 
  appeared 
  in 
  Germany. 
  Mouffit 
  states 
  that 
  in 
  1478 
  the 
  country 
  

   about 
  Venice 
  was 
  invaded, 
  and 
  30,000 
  people 
  died 
  of 
  famine. 
  In 
  1725 
  

   the 
  region 
  about 
  Eome 
  was 
  overrun 
  by 
  locusts. 
  

  

  In 
  France, 
  o.varms 
  appeared 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  ages. 
  In 
  1747 
  

   there 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  invasion 
  of 
  Southern 
  and 
  Middle 
  Europe, 
  especially 
  

   the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Danube, 
  Wallachia, 
  Moldavia, 
  and 
  Transylvania. 
  Be- 
  

   fore 
  and 
  after 
  this 
  date 
  vast 
  swarms 
  were 
  observed 
  in 
  Africa 
  and 
  Asia. 
  

   Adausin 
  in 
  1750 
  observed 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  Senegal. 
  In 
  1799, 
  Jackson, 
  in 
  

   his 
  " 
  Journey 
  through 
  Morocco," 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  country 
  between 
  

   JMogador 
  and 
  Tauger, 
  on 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  the 
  Sahara, 
  was 
  covered 
  with 
  

   them, 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  in 
  many 
  cases 
  borne 
  into 
  the 
  ocean 
  westward. 
  

  

  In 
  Eussia, 
  whose 
  southern 
  steppes 
  form 
  the 
  home 
  of 
  the 
  locust, 
  vast 
  

   swarms 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Charles 
  XII, 
  who 
  was 
  then 
  in 
  Bessarabia, 
  came 
  

   there 
  from 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  Sea. 
  Eussia, 
  Poland, 
  and 
  Hun- 
  

   gary 
  were 
  olteu 
  visited 
  by 
  them. 
  In 
  1828 
  and 
  1829 
  enormous 
  swarms 
  

   invaded 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  Sea. 
  In 
  1859, 
  in 
  the 
  South 
  Eussian 
  

   provinces 
  of 
  Chersou, 
  and 
  in 
  Bessarabia, 
  a 
  tract 
  60 
  versts 
  long 
  and 
  

   about 
  one-third 
  as 
  wide 
  was 
  overrun 
  by 
  ttem. 
  Taschenberg 
  gives 
  the 
  

   locust 
  years 
  in 
  EuSv^ia 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  century 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  1800, 
  1801, 
  

   1803, 
  1S12-'I6, 
  1820-'22, 
  1824 
  aud 
  1825, 
  1S28-'31, 
  lS34-'36, 
  1844, 
  1847, 
  

   1850, 
  aud 
  1851, 
  1859 
  aud 
  1861. 
  

  

  