(ipugóvoda); and others, among whom was Druthmar, that they were fishes caught by him in the Jordan, (cf. Hes' in voce nagaßos.) Nicephorus, and many of the Byzantine writers, detailed similar frivolities. These ideas may have, in some degree, originated in the tree called the locust tree, or plant, from its fancied resemblance to the animal: the Arabs mention one under the name of JJ, which has been supposed to be the blitum, or the rapunculus, and imagined by Knatchbull to mean the pods of the Ceratonia, or Pseudo-Acacia. We may remark, that signifies the locust, and any tree that is deprived of its leaves and boughs; probably in allusion to the devastation caused by this animal. In Dobrizhoffer's Account of the Abipones, (vol. ii. p. 344.) the tree called Alfaroba, which is common to South America, Africa, and other places, has been denominated "ST. JOHN'S BREAD," which strongly shews the extent of this opinion. Let us now examine the more valid reasons, which lead us to argue that St. John ate locusts, properly so called. In these we have a formidable array of supporters from all antiquity: the Asiatic and Libyan axpidopayo, many living on the shores of the Red Sea, and all attested by modern travellers, afford arguments too powerful to be invalidated by the absurd speculations of theorists. Strabo and Agatharcides detail a nearly similar account of them ; the latter adds: ἀπὸ τότε δὲ τοῦ ζώου τρέφονται πάντα τὸν χρόνον, ἄλλως τε τούτοις καὶ τεταριχευμένοις χρώμενοι. The eleventh chapter of Leviticus demonstrates, that they were permitted to the Jews: and the species, according to Hebrew ideas of natural history, was divided into clean and unclean. 8 is their most common Hebrew name; but various sorts are described in the Rabbinical writings: the words of the Le את אלה מהם תאכלו את הארבה למינו,,gislator, (v. 22.) are ואת הסלעם למינהו ואת החרגל למינהו ואת החגם למינהו : Michaelis is probably correct in conceiving the different sorts to be different periods of the growth of the animal; for the Arabic writers suggest the same idea. Hottinger de Jure Heb. Leg. cites eight sorts accounted clean by the Talmudists, viz. Jahn, in his Archäologie, (vol. i. p. 186-189,) has ably entered into the Besides which, the Talmudical Hebrew abounds with many other names of it, some of which are analogous to the biblical, דשין-שרץ עוף צלצל-ילק-חסיל-חנמל- גזם גובי or גוב .eg -INT, &c. &c.; but for 2, the Samaritans read 979. Some writers have confounded them with the quails, which are .שכלי and קכלי-פסיונו which we likewise find named ,שליו or שלו Ludolf imagined the " to have been locusts; and Niebuhr affirms, that the Jews, living among the Arabs, interpreted the word thus. But, from Damir and Arabic Lexica, it appears are names of the quail, which, from the sound which it utters, is also called ; of which there are two sorts, accurately described by Eastern naturalists,—the سماني and سلوي that and the 5 Hence the paranomastic proverb in Meidani, which implies, that great things are not to ليس قطا مثل قطي be compared to small things. The Ethiopians make a distinction in their version of the Old Testament, between the locust and the quail; the former is called Anh: the latter, ፈርፈርት∶ and it is surprising how any mistake or confu sion could have arisen. We find an immensity of words applied to the locust in Arabic, having reference either to its sort or colour, its age, or state of gestation. Among these are the, or long locust; the, or heavy locust; the, or variegated; the p, or green, with a black head; the, or black, with a green head; the, or red, (which is migratory); the , or the sort more frequently found in Abyssinia; the subject. He thus writes on their species: ,ist der allgemeino Nahme אַרְבֶּה bann, heus scheint aber bisweilen auch eine besondere Gattung zu bedeuten; جراد ممکن or that found on the sands of Aligi; the عرفان or red locust, (when plump, according to some,) besides many other distinctions peculiar to the countries where they are found. Naturalists likewise differ as to the force of these names: according to Damir, when the locust has just proceeded from the egg, it is called ; when its wings are grown, lè; when it assumes various colours, Other writers maintain, that when they leave the egg, their proper name is; but this has mere allusion to colour, and is not a name; when they begin to crawl, that it is ; when they spring on the ground, and are not as yet quite able to fly, that it is t; and that, when they are able to fly, it is; but this distinction appears fanciful, being simply expressive of these different stages, and as applicable to other animals as to the locust. The Kámús cites an edible sort, called, and gives another account of the epithets of the species. بع In addition to this list, we read of the, or locust with the short tail, the, the, the, the جراد البحر and which is the same as ابو عوف or cammarus, the ވ. ވ the, the, or long locust, the, or thickbodied locust, and many others, which derive their appellation from their habits or qualities; such as the, the mogą We dispute the authority of those Eastern writers, who make the either a distinct species, or the red sort, when plump: it is the name of the locust, when depositing, or about to deposit, her eggs, as the ámás and Sihah remark. Hence implies the female. the, &c. which terms are not necessarily peculiar to the and وعظاري عصفور locust. The males are generally called Burckhardt, in his عیسا and اسا and the females ; عسقول طيار نجديات جراد نحاف Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, says, that in Syria the wha, orub u, or flying sorts, are distinct from the or devouring sort. "The former have a yellow body, grey breast, and wings of a dirty white colour, with grey spots; the latter, a whitish grey body, and white wings. They are caught, at the beginning of April, by the Bedouins, and roasted on an iron plate () dried in the sun, and put into sacks, with a mixture of salt. Their natural foe is the bird , of the size of a swallow, who devours them by wholesale." (Pp. 238, 239.) According to this traveller, a small locust, with six long legs, is still found near the sources of the Jordan, denominated, (which is a colloquial corruption for ille), " pray to the Prophet,” (p. 42.) Damir mentions the locust as commonly eaten, and records, علي النبي ,(صلي that John, the son of " ان يحيى بن زكريا كان ياكل الجراد Zachariah, was wont to eat locusts." The , however, was not eaten, on account of a violent diarrhoea, which it caused; and those which were salted, are affirmed to resemble the taste of small shell-fish. Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Solinus, and a multitude of authors, treat of the custom from the most early times and Saubert (De Sacerdotio vet. Heb. c. xviii.) asserts, on the authority of Epiphanius, that the followers of St. John continued to eat äxpides. In Nornberg's preface to the Codex Nazaræus, sive liber Adæ, there is an extract from an anonymous Arabic work, containing this remarkable sentence:sis ما الاثنين و بين ما هم يهود والا نصاري بل ديانتهم هي عوايدها كهنتهم يلبسوا في وقت الصلات ثوب من جلد الجمل و يقدسوا العسل و الجراد "This sect is neither Jewish nor Christian: their religious institutes are between the two. These are their ceremonies: the priests, when they preside over sacred things, put on a garment made of camel's hair, and consecrate honey and locusts. Morier, in his second Journey to Persia, (p. 44.) observes, that locusts are sold at Bushire, as food, to the lowest peasantry, when dried, and that their taste is like "that of stale de 17 cayed shrimps. The locusts and wild honey, which St. John ate in the wilderness, are perhaps particularly mentioned to show, that he fared as the poorest of men.' Dobrizhoffer (vol. i. p. 347.) informs us, that the Abipones roast and eat female locusts, but loathe the male; and (vol. ii. pp. 344, 345.) that all the savages of Paraguay eat them, when roasted, with immense avidity. There can, therefore, be no doubt, that the Baptist ate the animal, not the fruit or shoots of the tree bearing the name: for if we consult the ancient versions of the New Testament, we shall perceive*, that such was the opinion of the translators. الفيل The locusts are cited by Joel and by St. John in the Apocalypse, according to Oriental ideas. From the vast bodies in which they move, and from the desolation which marks their progress, they have been described under lofty metaphors, and conceived to be the scourge of THE ALMIGHTY. An † anonymous naturalist in Damir compares them, in the following particulars, to ten animals greater than themselves: they are said to have dog, the face of the horse; J, the eyes of the elephant;, the neck of the bull; b, the horns of the stag;, the breast or chest of the lion , the belly of the scorpion, (for which others read lib, the belly of the black eagle, since the scorpion is less than the locust); millia, the wings of the vulture, or condor-eagle; all, the thighs of the camel; hetailذ الحية the feet of the ostrich; and, رجالا النعامة of the serpent. Cazvini's Ajaieb' el Maklucát commences a description of them, similar to the sacred account. او را به پارسي ملخ کویند و آن در صیف باشد سوار و جراد پیاده و سوار آن بود که در هوا برد و پیاده آن بود که جهد چون بهار بود گیاه بخورد (فكذلك) 66 This is called in Persian. In summer there are two sorts; the equestrian and pedestrian. The equestrian is that which flies in the air; the pedestrian that which hops * The Syriac renders änpides,, the Arabic, the Ethiopic 30h, the Persiane and the Cophtic Oryxe; concerning not one of which any dispute can arise. + Cf. Bocharti Hiorozoïcon-ed. Roscnmüller. 10 |