﻿LOCUSTS 
  IN 
  FOREIGN 
  COUNTRIES. 
  [61] 
  

  

  Suchitepeque, 
  lost 
  in 
  one 
  night 
  70,000 
  trees, 
  without 
  there 
  being 
  left 
  one 
  single 
  leaf. 
  In 
  

   April 
  a 
  swarm 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  4 
  leagues 
  broad 
  and 
  about 
  300 
  metres 
  long 
  approached 
  

   the 
  estate 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  writer 
  of 
  the 
  letter, 
  but 
  fortunately 
  could 
  be 
  partly 
  driven 
  

   away 
  with 
  noise 
  and 
  smoke. 
  

  

  These 
  facts 
  are 
  interesting, 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  observed 
  hitherto 
  that 
  locusts, 
  in 
  such 
  

   a 
  degree, 
  attack 
  the 
  coffee 
  tree. 
  

  

  A. 
  ERNST. 
  

  

  CarIcas, 
  August 
  2. 
  

  

  E. 
  — 
  History 
  of 
  Locusts 
  in 
  Other 
  Countries. 
  

  

  While 
  our 
  own 
  land 
  has 
  been 
  in 
  certain 
  years 
  fearfully 
  scourged 
  by 
  

   locusts, 
  and 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  as 
  would 
  have 
  caused 
  wide 
  extended 
  and 
  

   disastrous 
  famine 
  and 
  want 
  had 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  Western. 
  States 
  

   been 
  less 
  active, 
  vigorous 
  and 
  civilized, 
  and 
  with 
  less 
  facilities 
  for 
  rail- 
  

   road 
  transportation, 
  telegraph 
  communication, 
  or 
  less 
  intimate 
  commu- 
  

   nication 
  in 
  general 
  with 
  the 
  populous 
  centers 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  safely 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  all 
  probability, 
  should 
  there 
  ever 
  occur 
  such 
  wide- 
  

   spread 
  invasions 
  and 
  devastation 
  as 
  took 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  Western 
  States 
  iu 
  

   1867, 
  and 
  1874-'75-'76, 
  there 
  will 
  not 
  occur 
  even 
  such 
  local 
  distress 
  and 
  

   partial 
  famine 
  as 
  did 
  occur 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  upon 
  the 
  frontier 
  in 
  those 
  years. 
  

   We 
  have 
  good 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  Montana, 
  the 
  

   great 
  breeding 
  ground 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  locust, 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  go- 
  

   ing 
  on 
  so 
  rapidly, 
  will 
  more 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  cause 
  decrease 
  the 
  number 
  

   and 
  extent 
  of 
  locust-breeding 
  grounds, 
  and 
  thus 
  lessen 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

   those 
  which 
  would 
  otherwise 
  emigrate 
  from 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountain 
  region 
  

   across 
  the 
  plains. 
  

  

  As 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  the 
  statements 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  Com- 
  

   mission 
  (pp. 
  476-477), 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  extracts 
  from 
  different 
  sources 
  given 
  

   below, 
  the 
  immediate 
  results 
  of 
  a 
  locust 
  invasion 
  are 
  famine, 
  and 
  the 
  

   diseases 
  and 
  epidemics 
  or 
  pestilences 
  resulting 
  from 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  food 
  or 
  

   from 
  the 
  enforced 
  use 
  of 
  bad 
  food. 
  This 
  is 
  particularly 
  the 
  case 
  iu 
  the 
  

   southern 
  portions 
  of 
  Eussia, 
  and 
  the 
  semi-civilized 
  region 
  of 
  India, 
  the 
  

   Philippine 
  Islands, 
  and 
  particularly 
  northern 
  Africa, 
  parts 
  of 
  Algeria, 
  

   while 
  it 
  is 
  less 
  marked 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  and 
  Mexico. 
  Famine 
  from 
  the 
  

   invasions 
  of 
  swarms 
  of 
  locusts, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  is 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  

   in 
  regions 
  inhabited 
  by 
  savage 
  tribes. 
  As 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  the 
  wild 
  Arabs 
  

   and 
  Bushmen 
  welcome 
  a 
  swarm 
  of 
  grasshoppers 
  or 
  locusts 
  as 
  a 
  season 
  

   of 
  thanksgiving, 
  i)raise, 
  and 
  the 
  reverse 
  of 
  fasting; 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  Great 
  

   Basin 
  of 
  Nevada 
  and 
  Utah, 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  curse 
  and 
  tribulation 
  to 
  the 
  

   settlers, 
  was 
  formerly 
  an 
  entomological 
  '' 
  rainfall" 
  to 
  the 
  aboriginal 
  Piute 
  

   and 
  Digger 
  Indian. 
  So 
  that 
  semi-civilization 
  feels 
  keenly 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  

   the 
  attack 
  of 
  locusts, 
  while 
  a 
  civilized, 
  thickly-settled 
  community, 
  even 
  

   near 
  the 
  frontier, 
  has 
  within 
  itself 
  the 
  resources 
  for 
  overcoming 
  or 
  so 
  

   ameliorating 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  depredations 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  that 
  it 
  suf- 
  

   fers 
  but 
  comparatively 
  little 
  in 
  the 
  long 
  run. 
  As 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  our 
  

   second 
  report, 
  the 
  outcome 
  of 
  the 
  observations 
  and 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  Com- 
  

   mission 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  locust 
  plague 
  will 
  be 
  so 
  much 
  reduced 
  in 
  extent 
  and 
  

   so 
  ameliorated 
  by 
  the 
  rapid 
  settlement 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  region 
  

   that 
  we 
  are 
  safe 
  in 
  saying 
  that 
  the 
  best 
  general 
  preventive 
  against 
  the 
  

   ravages 
  of 
  locusts, 
  the 
  great 
  prophylactic 
  against 
  locust 
  attacks, 
  is 
  the 
  

   settlement 
  of 
  the 
  permanent 
  breeding 
  grounds 
  of 
  this 
  species. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  population 
  in 
  central 
  Europe 
  and 
  the 
  lessening 
  of 
  

   uncultivated, 
  partly 
  desert 
  areas 
  in 
  southern 
  and 
  southeastern 
  Europe^ 
  

   west 
  of 
  Eussia, 
  which 
  has 
  i^robably 
  put 
  a 
  stop, 
  within 
  the 
  past 
  centur3^, 
  

   to 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  swarms 
  of 
  locusts 
  in 
  Germany 
  and 
  Austria 
  from 
  the 
  

   southeast. 
  

  

  