1. Description of Appearance, Structure, &c. Belongs to the grasshopper class of insects. Produced from eggs nearly of the size of corn grains

about forty laid by each female. These remain buried in the ground during winter; each produces a little worm, which afterwards becomes an insect of about three inches long; back covered with strong corslet; large, head; two antennæ an inch long; prominent, dark, rolling eyes; strong jaws, with three teeth; four wings-exterior the larger, tough and straight-the under, transparent and pliant:— "His outspread wings of green,

His gauzy under-wings,

One closely to the grass-green body furl'd
One ruffled in the fall and half unclosed."

Eastern nations think they can read upon them, "We are the destroying army of God." Four front legs used in climbing and feeding; the hinder pair larger and longer; with them it can leap two hundred times the length of its own body; how far? Body of brown colour; wings, blue, green, and tinged with red.

II. Countries where found.

Almost limited to Africa and Asia; occasionally visits Southern Europe - Sicily, Italy, and Russia.

III. Habits, Disposition, &c.

Migratory; moves in armies; approaches as a dark opaque cloud; clattering noise made by their wings.

"Onward they come, a dark continuous cloud
Of congregated myriads, numberless,

The rushing of whose wings is as the sound
Of some broad river, headlong in its course,
Plunged from a mountain summit, or the roar
Of a wild ocean, in the autumnal storm,
Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks."

They fill the air like snow-flakes; every vegetable substance disappears where they alight; cultivated grounds become deserts; trees are stripped of leaves, buds, and bark; even the thatch of houses and poisonous plants are consumed:

"And the trees are bare, and the land is brown,
As if trampled, and trod, by an army down;
The broad, green earth is his prostrate prey,
And he darkens the sun at the noon of day.'

They scale walls; penetrate in swarms into granaries, houses, and cellars; very unpleasant, striking and stinging the face in their leaps; you cannot talk or eat without danger of receiving one into your mouth. Settle on the ground several inches deep; crushed by the feet of horses and passengers; dead bodies decompose and fill the air with pestilence :

"Plague

Descends. From Ethiopia's poison'd woods,
From stifled Cairo's filth, and fetid fields

With locust armies putrefying heap'd,

This great destroyer sprung.'

Famine and death also follow their visits; whole districts thus depopulated-e. g., in Numidia eight hundred thousand persons perished by pestilence and famine occasioned by them. Great efforts made to prevent their descent on fields and gardens, and to destroy them after settling; noises made by men, women, and children ringing bells, firing guns, beating drums, cracking whips

all to frighten them off. Sometimes, when tired, they fall into seas, rivers, or lakes. Devoured by birds, lizards, hogs, frogs, and foxes. Millions destroyed by tempests, heavy rains, and cold winds. When they alight a deep trench is dug, three or four feet wide, lined on the off side by people holding brooms, sticks, shovels, &c.; others surround and drive the insects towards their open grave, into which they are brushed and buried.

IV. Uses.

Considered wholesome and nutritious by Eastern nations; eaten by Arabians, Hottentots and New Hollanders. In Southern Africa a brown soup made of their eggs; the Bedouins collect, dry, salt, and sell or eat them; dried and pounded, they are made into bread by others.

V. Scriptural References.

1. Placed among the "clean" eaten. (Lev. xi. 22.)

allowed to be

2. Constituted in part the food of St. John Baptist-proof of his poverty. (St. Matt. iii. 4.)

3. One of the terrible plagues sent upon Egypt. (Ex. x.):

"The locusts, from their wiry way,

With reptile war assail their proud abode,
And mar the giant pomp of Egypt's gods."

4. Name used for the enemies of Christianity. (Rev. ix. 3.)

Note. "Fancy a heavy fall of snow, each flake being a black, voracious insect, and these, as they fall, covering the ground to the depth of two or three inches, while the air still continues obscured by the myriads that remain fluttering about, the roofs of the houses and every inch of ground covered

by a thick mass of crawling, crackling vermin, hissing and buzzing. Every aperture of the house may be carefully closed, yet they come down the chimney by thousands, an beat against the windows like hail. During the locust years many of these swarms settled on Odessa, covering the streets and public places; dropping by hundreds into the kettles and saucepans in the kitchens, invading at once the drawing-room and the granary, and crawling along the public walks by millions. The sudden. darkness occasioned by a swarm of them on a fine day is quite as great as would be occasioned by a succession of rainy clouds; not a ray of sunshine can pierce through. When they alight on a tree it will seem ready to break under the sudden load, and so much ground is covered by their armies that it is calculated that these swarms must consist of a thousand millions. When at length they depart, they leave behind them a scene of desolation, such as no other calamity could produce."

LESSON XXXIV. -THE OSTRICH.
I. Appearance and Structure.

PLUMAGE of a deep glossy, black colour, with white feathers in the tail and wings; the female has dusky plumes. Seven feet in height (some attain nine feet); dead body weighs between two and three hundred pounds; neck, very long, and destitute of feathers; eyes, prominent. Greatly resembles a quadruped; jointed, naked legs; cloven hoofs, the toes of unequal length-the one four, and the other seven inches; gruff voice ; bears a striking likeness to the camel, in its feet and stomach- both subsist on scanty vegetation;

called by Arabs and Persians the "camel bird; wings, imperfect.

II. Regions where found, &c.

Inhabitant of Central Africa and Arabia; its abode is

"A region of emptiness, howling and drear,

Which man hath abandoned from famine and fear;
Which the Ostrich and lizard inhabit alone,

With the twilight bat from the old, hollow stone." Occasionally intrudes on cultivated grounds; does great damage. Hunted on horseback: hemmed in by horsemen ; chased backwards and forwards till exhausted; despatched by blows on the head. In South Africa, often chased on foot, and shot whilst drinking. Preyed upon by lions, panthers, &c.; eggs eaten by hyenas.

Birds somewhat similar in their appearance and structure are found in other parts of the world, as the cassowary in Asia, the emu in Australia, the rhea in South America, and the bustard in Europe.

III. Habits and Food.

Lives from twenty to thirty years. Possesses enormous strength; a single blow from its foot will prostrate a hyena, panther, jackal, or wild dog. Exceedingly swift, outrunning a horse" she scorneth the horse and his rider :"

"Along the wilderness she skims, with speed,
And scorns the rider and pursuing steed."

Cry resembles that of the lion. Lays from twelve to sixteen eggs (several birds deposit their eggs in the same nest); the nest is a cavity scooped out in the sand; both birds sit. Gregarious seen in troops of fifty at a time; associates with quadrupeds. Easily domesticated. Very voracious;