^"q. 1. 1 Miscellaneous Notes. 43 



According to an account of the locusts' invasion in Algeria, published 

 in the Daily Telegraph in the early part of June 1891, reports of damage 

 by locusts were coming in daily from all parts of Algeria, and large 

 flights were observed in the Mediterranean. 'I he mayors of the com- 

 munes in Algeria were offering rewards at the rate of one franc for each 

 50 lbs. of locusts destroyed. Ploughing had been resorted to for the 

 destruction of the e^s. but vast numbers of wingless larvae had never- 

 theless emerged, and were doing great damage to the crops. The 

 Cyprus scieen system was being very largely used for the destruction of 

 these larvae, and smoky fires were found to be the best means of 

 preventing the winged flights from alighting on the crops. 



(iv) A letter, dated 3rd November 1891, from the Ccnsul General 

 in Tripoli, forwarded through the Government of India, noticing that 

 although Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco had suffered from locusts, Tripoli 

 had escaped. 



(v) A notice which appeared in the Board of Trade Journal, London, 

 June 1891, p. 681, on the subject of locusts in Morocco. According 

 to this notice, locusts were first reported in Morocco in the southern 

 province of Soos in the end of October 1890. Thence they spread over 

 the country, and in the spring began egg laying, causing great anxiety 

 for the spring crops. Damage also was done to green crops, and olive 

 and almond trees were in many places stripped of their bark. No 

 general measures were taken to deal with the locusts, though vast 

 numbers were collected and sold for food both to Jews and Moham- 

 medans. The locusts were brought in from the country on camels in the 

 form of " heaving sackfuls," of ruddy brown or greenish-yellow insects 

 (the first colour in the autumn, the latter in the spring,. They were 

 said to be first boiled in salt and water, and then fried or } arched, The 

 same modus operandi was said to have been in voyue, according to old 

 writers, early in the last century, and when properly preserved the 

 " Jeraad" appear to have been looked upon as a convenient form of food 

 for travellers to take with them on the road. 



The following report by Mr. W. Townley, on locusts in Persia, has 

 Loc st i P • ' been furnished through the Government of 



India by Her Majesty's Legation in Teheran. 

 It will be interesting to ascertain the identity of the three species of 

 locusts that are referred to in the report under the names of Mesri, 

 Dart/aie, and Tanko. For this purpose it would be desirable to obtain 

 representatives of each of the species for examination by some trained 

 entomologist. Up to the present little has been ascertained upon this 



