﻿34 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  ily 
  be 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  winged 
  creatures 
  of 
  quite 
  another 
  species. 
  Their 
  numbers, 
  too, 
  

   are 
  so 
  vast 
  that 
  they 
  quite 
  darken 
  the 
  sun. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Those 
  from 
  Africa 
  are 
  the 
  ones 
  

   which 
  chiefly 
  devastate 
  Italy; 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  once 
  the 
  Roman 
  people 
  have 
  been 
  

   obliged 
  to 
  have 
  recourse 
  to 
  the 
  Sibylline 
  Books 
  to 
  learn 
  what 
  remedies 
  to 
  employ 
  tinder 
  

   their 
  apprehensions 
  of 
  impending 
  danger. 
  

  

  This 
  statement 
  of 
  their 
  coming 
  over 
  from 
  Africa 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  generally 
  

   accepted 
  as 
  true 
  by 
  subsequent 
  writers, 
  without 
  investigation 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  

   truth, 
  that 
  we 
  shall 
  hereafter 
  call 
  attention 
  to 
  it, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  show 
  its 
  im- 
  

   probability. 
  

  

  Julius 
  Obsequens 
  4 
  states 
  that 
  " 
  Before 
  the 
  birth 
  of 
  Christ 
  about 
  170 
  

   years 
  the 
  pastures 
  of 
  Italy 
  were 
  covered, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  with 
  clouds 
  of 
  

   grasshoppers, 
  and 
  about 
  Capua 
  a 
  hundred 
  years 
  thereafter." 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Gregory, 
  of 
  Turin, 
  5 
  two 
  armies 
  of 
  locusts 
  appeared, 
  which, 
  

   passing 
  through 
  Arvernum, 
  came 
  together 
  in 
  Eomaniae, 
  where 
  a 
  great 
  

   battle 
  was 
  fought 
  between 
  the 
  hosts 
  and 
  many 
  slain. 
  No 
  date 
  is 
  given, 
  

   but 
  it 
  appears 
  from 
  the 
  context 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  about 
  558. 
  Purchas, 
  who 
  

   quotes 
  the 
  same 
  incident, 
  says 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  two 
  armies 
  passing 
  by 
  Clermont 
  

   into 
  the 
  Eomanaick 
  Territory 
  (a 
  place 
  in 
  France) 
  there 
  fought 
  together, 
  

   where 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  killed 
  ; 
  when 
  Clotarius 
  was 
  about 
  to 
  fight 
  

   with 
  his 
  son 
  Chrannus." 
  

  

  The 
  year 
  593 
  A. 
  D., 
  following 
  a 
  very 
  severe 
  and 
  general 
  drought, 
  was 
  

   noted 
  for 
  a 
  very 
  general 
  invasion 
  of 
  locusts. 
  6 
  The 
  particular 
  sections 
  

   devastated 
  we 
  are 
  unable 
  to 
  ascertain. 
  

  

  In 
  852 
  immense 
  swarms 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  regions 
  invaded 
  the 
  west, 
  

   penetrating 
  into 
  Gaul, 
  their 
  daily 
  marches 
  being 
  computed 
  at 
  twenty 
  

   miles 
  a 
  day 
  ; 
  and 
  their 
  flights, 
  as 
  stated, 
  being 
  regulated 
  by 
  leaders 
  who 
  

   flew 
  first 
  and 
  settled 
  on 
  the 
  spot 
  which 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  visited 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   hour 
  the 
  next 
  day 
  by 
  the 
  whole 
  legion. 
  These 
  marches 
  were 
  always 
  

   undertaken 
  at 
  sunrise. 
  7 
  

  

  Cuspinian 
  mentions 
  an 
  invasion 
  of 
  Gaul 
  in 
  874. 
  8 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  Basilius, 
  the 
  Emperor 
  (according 
  to 
  Georgius 
  Cedrenus) 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  parts 
  were 
  consumed 
  by 
  grasshoppers 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  as 
  

   to 
  compel 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  to 
  sell 
  their 
  children 
  and 
  at 
  last 
  to 
  pass 
  into 
  

   Thrace. 
  But 
  afterwards 
  a 
  vehement 
  wind 
  carried 
  the 
  locusts 
  into 
  the 
  

   Hellespont, 
  but 
  they 
  were 
  thrown 
  back 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  and, 
  reviving 
  to 
  a 
  

   large 
  extent, 
  wasted 
  the 
  countries 
  adjoining, 
  and 
  Thrace 
  also, 
  for 
  three 
  

   years. 
  9 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  chronological 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  migrations 
  in 
  Europe, 
  

   from 
  874 
  to 
  1092, 
  is 
  taken 
  from 
  Keferstein's 
  article 
  before 
  mentioned 
  : 
  

  

  They 
  visited 
  Italy 
  in 
  864. 
  10 
  In 
  870 
  they 
  showed 
  themselves 
  in 
  France 
  

  

  4 
  As 
  quoted 
  by 
  Purchas 
  on 
  Insects. 
  The 
  full 
  title 
  of 
  this 
  quaint 
  old 
  work 
  is 
  as 
  follows: 
  "A 
  Theater 
  

   of 
  Political! 
  Flying 
  Insects, 
  wherein 
  especially 
  the 
  Nature, 
  the 
  Worth, 
  the 
  Work, 
  the 
  Wonder 
  and 
  the 
  

   Manner 
  of 
  Right-ordering 
  of 
  the 
  Bee 
  is 
  Discovered 
  and 
  Described." 
  London, 
  1657, 
  p. 
  197, 
  et 
  seq. 
  

  

  6 
  Historia 
  Ecclesiastica 
  Francorum, 
  lib. 
  4, 
  ch. 
  20. 
  

  

  6 
  Shaw's 
  "General 
  Zoology," 
  vi, 
  p. 
  137, 
  probably 
  following 
  Aldrovandus. 
  

  

  7 
  Shaw, 
  I. 
  c. 
  —Purchas 
  on 
  Insects, 
  I. 
  c. 
  — 
  probably 
  quoted 
  from 
  Aldrovandus. 
  

  

  8 
  Purchas 
  on 
  Insects. 
  

  

  9 
  Purchas. 
  

  

  10 
  Cantor, 
  Geschichte 
  dor 
  merkwiirdigsten 
  Naturbegebenheiten 
  auf 
  unserer 
  Erde, 
  Bd. 
  2 
  (1804), 
  104. 
  

  

  