Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

"Such is a brief account or history of these cocoons, of which we were continually encountering horseload after horseload.

"As you will perceive, unless suffering from a severe cold in the head, the odour arising from these cocoons is not the most agreeable; but this arises partly from the neglect and want of care of the peasants themselves, who, reeling off basketful after basketful of cocoons, suffer the dead insects within to be thrown about and accumulate round the house, where they putrefy and emit noxious vapours."

The Hebrew word meshi, which is the one that occurs in Ezek. xvi., is derived from a root which signifies "to draw out," probably in allusion to the delicacy of the fibre.

Although our limits will not permit the cultivation of the Silkworm to be described more fully, it may here be added that all silk-growers are full of superstition regarding the welfare of the caterpillars, and imagine that they are so sensitive that they will die of fear. The noise of a thunderclap is, in their estimation, fatal to Silkworms; and the breeders were therefore accustomed to beat drums within the hearing of the Silkworms, increasing the loudness of the sound, and imitating as nearly as possible the crash and roll of thunder, so that the caterpillars might be familiar with the sound if the thunderstorm should happen to break near them.

A quaint use of this superstition is made by Luis of Grenada in one of his discourses :

Dominica IV. post Pent., Concio 1.

"Sunt rursus alii, quorum pectora sic generis humani hostis obsedit, ut nullius divinæ vocis fulminibus perterreantur, vel parum animo commoveantur.

[ocr errors]

'Quâ autem ratione eorundem aures obstruat, proposito hoc exemplo indicabo.

"Bombyces, hoc est vermes illi qui serica fila nectunt, ita tonitruum sonitu gravantur, ut interdum moriantur. Quo fit, ut qui eos nutriunt tympana frequenter pulsent, ut sonitui molliori assueti a graviori tonitrui sono non lædantur. Tales mihi multi sacrarum concionum auditores hâc ætate esse videntur, qui quotidianis concionibus audiendis sine ullo animi motu assueti, si quis concionator, a Deo actus, gravius aliquid et formidibilius

intonet, non idem magis animo permoveantur; utpote qui negligenter audiendi consuetudine pene insensibiles ad verbi Dei tonitrua affecti sint."

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1.

Again, others there are of whose breasts the enemy of mankind hath taken such possession, that they be terrified by the thunderbolts of no Divine voice, or are in mind only a little disturbed thereby.

"Now after what sort he stoppeth the ears of these same men I will, by this example, propound and set forth.

"The Bombyxes—that is to say, those worms which do spin the silk threads-are by peals of thunder so troubled that sometimes they die. Wherefore it comes to pass that the keepers of them do ofttimes beat drums, to the end that, being used to the softer noise, they may take no hurt from that sound of the thunder which is heavier. Of such a sort do seem to me to be nowadays many hearers of sacred discourses. For inasmuch as they be used to the hearing of common discourses, by which their minds are nothing moved, if a preacher, urged of God, do sound forth something in any wise solemn and dreadful, they are not, therefore, any the more moved in mind, seeing that by their custom of careless hearing they have grown well-nigh hardened to the thunders of God's Word."

ABOUT the correct reading of the Hebrew word gâzam, which is translated in the Authorized Version "palmer-worm," there has always been some difficulty. It only occurs in three passages of Scripture, and in each case reference is made to its destructive powers.

The first is in Joel i. 4: "That which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten."

The second is in chap. ii. 25 of the same book: "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you."

The third is in Amos iv. 9: "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees, and your olive-trees increased, the palmer-worm

:

1

devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord."

The Jewish Bible retains the reading of palmer-worm, but affixes the mark of doubt, as it does to the canker-worm. Some

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

"That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten."-JOEL. i. 4.

Hebraists have thought that the word gázam is one of the names. to designate the locust, either some distinct species, or the same species in its undeveloped condition. Others have thought that, as the Jews were very loose in their nomenclature, they would not have made so great an exception in favour of an insect as to apply two different names to it.

Buxtorf derives the word from a root signifying "to shave," or "to shear," in allusion to the havoc which the gâzam makes among the vegetation. The reader will see that it is impossible to decide with any certainty upon the precise species of insect signified by the word gâzam; but there can be no harm in following the translation of the Septuagint and Vulgate, both of which render it as "caterpillar." Assuming, therefore, that it is a caterpillar of some kind, I have inserted figures of some butterflies found in Palestine, together with the caterpillar and chrysalis of one of them, namely the Papilio.

DIPTERA.

FLIES.

Flies of Scripture--Dead Flies and the apothecary's ointment-Gadflies and their attacks-Annoyance caused by the House-fly-Flics and ophthalmiaSignor Pierotti's account of the Flies-The sovereign remedy against FliesCauses of their prevalence.

NEXT we come to the Dipterous or two-winged insects, which are very sparingly mentioned in the Scriptures, and only one species is definitely named.

There are two Hebrew words which are translated as "fly." One is zebub, so familiar in the compound word Baal-zebub-i.c. "Lord of Flies." This word only occurs in two passages, one being the well-known proverb, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour" (Eccles. x. 1).

This passage requires a little explanation. By the word "apothecary" we must not understand a medical man, nor by the word "ointment" the mollifying substance used as an application for wounds. The ointment of Scripture signifies the various perfumed unguents used as scents and cosmetics for the living, as part of the preparation of the dead for the grave, and as an essential accessory to Jewish ritual,

These ointments were most carefully made, and the person who prepared and sold them was called the apothecary. If, therefore, the unguents were carelessly stored, and the Flies

permitted to enter, the perfume would be destroyed by the odour of their dead bodies.

The second passage is Isa. vii. 18: "The Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt." No particular species of fly is here indicated; but it is evident that some peculiarly irritating and troublesome, not to say dangerous, insect is signified.

effect, and inflict Even in England

Many species of gadfly would produce that direful torments on those whom they assail. the gadflies are more than troublesome to human beings. In the New Forest I have been fairly driven back by the attack of the gadflies, which wounded me through a thick woollen coat, while they attacked the uncovered portions of the skin so fiercely that, before reaching shelter, my neck was bathed in blood.

Another word is arôb, which is applied to the flies which were brought upon Egypt in the great plague. It is probable that some different species is here signified, but there is no certainty in the matter. Any species, however, would be a sufficient plague if they exceeded the usual number which infest Egypt, and which at first make the life of a foreigner a burden to him. They swarm in such myriads, that he eats flies, drinks flies, and breathes flies.

Not the least part of the nuisance is, that they cluster in the eyes of those who are affected with the prevalent ophthalmia, which is so fertile a cause of blindness, and so convey the infection with them. A stranger is always struck with the appearance of the children, who have quantities of these pests upon and about their eyes, and yet seem perfectly unaffected by a visitation which would wellnigh drive a European mad.

Signor Pierotti writes feelingly on the subject:-

"These insects sometimes cause no slight suffering in Palestine, as I can vouch from my own experience. However large or however small they may be, a rabid and restless foe, they attack alike, and make themselves insufferable in a thousand ways, in every season and place, in the house and in the field, by day and by night.

66

Frequently in 1857 and 1860, while I was encamped near the tents of the Bedawîn, in the neighbourhood of the Jordan, and to the south of Hebron, flies were brought in such numbers by the east wind that all, beasts and men, were in danger of

« ForrigeFortsett »