LEMING, 
sible to avoid. They make dreadful devasta- 
tion in the fields ; lay waste the gardens ; 
ruin the crops ; and leave nothing but what 
is shut up in houses, where they happily never 
enter. They bark nearly like small dogs. 
When struck at with a stick, they seize it so 
forcibly, with their teeth, that they permit 
themselves to be carried a considerable distance 
without quitting their hold. They dig holes 
in the earth, and make roads, like the Moles, 
in search of roots. At particular times they 
assemble together, and the whole die in com- 
pany. They are very courageous, and defend 
themselves against other animals. It is not 
known from whence they come. The vulgar 
believe, that they fall from the clouds with 
the rain. The Male is generally larger than 
the Female, and his black spots are also larger. 
On the renewal of the grass they infallibly die. 
In fine weather, they take to the water, in 
vast multitudes ; but, when a breeze of wind 
rises, they are ail drowmed. The number of 
these animals is so prodigious, that when they 
die the air is infected, and prdUuces many 
diseases. They even seem to infect the plants 
which they gnaw, for the pasture then kills 
the 
