A Letter from Dr. Thomas Molyneux, Fellow of the Royal Society, to the Right Reverend St. George, Lord Bishop of Clogher; Concerning Swarms of Insects, That of Late Years Have Much Infested Some Parts of the Province of Connought in Ireland

II. A Letter from Dr. Thomas Molyneux, Fellow of the Royal Society, to the Right Reverend St. George, Lord Bishop of Clogher; concerning Swarms of Insects, that of late Years have much infested some Parts of the Province of Connought in Ireland. My Good Lord, Ever since your Lordship first spoke to me of the strange Appearance of vast Swarms of a sort of Insects in this Kingdom; that have lately much infested some Parts of the Province of Connought, and the great Ravage and Devastation they have wrought in that Country: I endeavour'd to inform myself the best I could concerning them; partly, I confess, from an Inclination common to those of my Profession, to make Inquiries into Things Natural; but more especially from an earnest Regard to gratify your Lordship's Expectations and Desires, which I have always look'd upon as Commands, in whatever lies in my Power. And truly, had not this latter Motive wholly prevailed upon me, I should have desisted, and given over the further Prosecution of this Search; for I found I undertook it with such Disadvantages, that I could not possibly perform any thing in it, but what must be very lame and imperfect; and so could never satisfy or please myself with it, otherwise than that it was a Testimony of my Respects to your Lordship. For this Flying Army, as I may call them, making their first Incursion, and taking up their Quarters, in a Place so remote, above a Hundred Miles from hence, where I never have been; all the Account I can give your Lordship of them, their Marches, and the Destruction they have brought on the Country; is only what I have gathered by lending out for Intelligence, and depending on the Reports of others; for what I am able to say of my own Knowledge is but little, and what I observed of this sort of Fly in another Country, and not in this. Therefore you must not expect their History, or an exact Narrative, but only such loose Particulars, as I could pick up by discoursing some Gentlemen that live in those Parts where they swarm, little addicted, you may well suppose, to make or communicate Observations of this kind: However, I shall not trouble your Lordship with bare Hearsays; the following Account is what I took up upon sure Grounds, and what was generally confirm'd to me, by the Relations of more than one; and I must here own myself especially obliged, for a great part of my Information, to a Letter, your Lordship did me the Favour to procure, from one of your Acquaintance on this Subject. The first time great Numbers of these Insects were taken Notice of in this Kingdom, I find was in the Year 1688. They appear'd on the South-West Coast of the County of Galway, brought thither by a South-West Wind, one of the common, I might almost say Trade-Winds, of this Country, it blows so much more from this Quarter in Ireland, than all the rest of the Compass. From hence they made their way into the more Inland Parts towards Hedford, a Place belonging to Sir George St. George, Baronet, about Twelve Miles North from the Town of Galway; here and in the adjacent Country, Multitudes of them shewed themselves among the Trees and Hedges in the Day time, hanging by the Boughs Thousands together in Clusters, sticking to the Back one of another, as is the manner of Bees when they they Swarm. In this Posture, or lying still and covert under the Leaves of the Trees, or clinging to the Branches, they continued quiet with little or no Motion during the Heat of the Sun, but towards Evening or Sunset, they would all rise, disperse, and fly about, with a strange humming Noise, much like the Beating of Drums at some Distance, and in such vast incredible Numbers, that they darkned the Air for the Space of Two or Three Miles square. Those that were Travelling on the Roads, or abroad in the Fields, found it very uneasy to make their way through them, they would so beat and knock themselves against their Faces in their Flight, and with such a Force, as to smart the Place where they hit, and leave a slight Marke behind them. This, though it was no little Trouble, especially to Children, and those that were more Nice and Timorous of the Female Sex; yet it was not the only Inconvenience they brought along with them; for a short while after their coming, they had so entirely eat up and destroy'd all the Leaves of the Trees for some Miles round about, that the whole Country, though it was in the Middle of Summer, was left as bare and naked as if it had been in the Depth of Winter, making a most unseemly and indeed frightful Appearance; and the Noise they made, whilst they were seizing and devouring this their Prey, was as surprising; for the Grinding of the Leaves in the Mouths of this vast Multitude all together, made a Sound very much resembling the Sawing of Timber. Nor were the Trees abroad, and Hedges in the Field the only Sufferers by this Vermin, they came also into the Gardens, and destroy'd the Buds, Blossoms, and Leaves of all the Fruit Trees, that they were left perfectly naked; nay, many of them, that were more delicate licate and tenderer than the rest, lost their Sap as well as Leaves, and quite withered away, so as they never recovered it again, particularly several Trees in the curious Plantation of one Mr. Martin. Nay their Multitudes spread so exceedingly, that they disturbed Men even within their Dwellings; for out of the Gardens they got into the Houses; where Numbers of them crawling about, were very irksome, and they would often drop on the Meat as it was dressing in the Kitchin, and frequently fall from the Ceiling of the Rooms into the Dishes as they stood on the Table while they eat, so extremely Offensive and Loathsome were they, as well as Prejudicial and Destructive. Nor did the Mischievous Effects of this pernicious Vermin stop here, their numerous creeping Spawn which they had lodg'd under ground next the upper Sod of the Earth, did more harm in that close Retirement, than all the Flying Swarms of their Parents had done abroad: for this young destructive Blood, did not withhold from what was much more Necessary to have been spared, and what their Sires had left untouched: These lying under Ground, fell a devouring the Roots of the Corn and Grafs, and eating them up, ruined both the support of Man and Beast; for these losing their Roots, soon withered and came to nought, to the vast Damage of the Country. This Spawn, when first it gave Sign of Life, appeared like a large Maggot, and by taking Food and increasing every Day, became a bigger Worm, till at length it grew as big as a great white Catterpillar; from whence, according to the usual Transformation Natural to these smaller Animals, came forth this our Flying Insect; but how or at what certain Periods of Time, these Metamorphoses and Changes were wrought, I could not meet with any one able to inform me. This I thought remarkable, that these young and tender Worms should live on a coarser Diet, and fare more hardly than their strong and older Parents, whose Food was the fine soft Substance of Leaves and Blossoms, whilst these fed upon the tough and almost Ligneous Fibres of the Roots of Plants. But I find Dr. Lister has observed the like difference between the Diet of common Catterpillars and their Butterflies; those eating the grossest Food of Leaves, whilst these live only on the pure refined Meal, and most spiritous Juice of Flowers: And this seems one of the wise Contrivances of Nature, that adapts as most proper the Airy finer Nourishment, for the more agile and light Body of the Volatile Insect, while the same Animal, when a dull Reptile Worm, is sustained by a more gross and terrene Food, more fitting to its slow and heavy Nature. But notwithstanding this Plague of Vermin did thus mightily prevail and infest the Country, yet it would have been still much more violent, had not its Rage been fortunately checkt several ways. High Winds, Wet and Misting Weather, were extremely disagreeable to the Nature of this Insect; and so prejudicial as to destroy many Millions of them in one Days Time: Whence I gather, that though we have them in these Northern Moist Climates, they are more natural, and more peculiarly belonging to Warm and Dry Countries. Whenever these ill Constitutions of the Air prevailed, their Bodies were so enfeebled, they would let go their holds, and drop to the Ground from the Branches where they stuck, and so little a fall as this, at that time, was of sufficient force quite to disable, and sometimes perfectly kill them. Nay, it was observable, that even when they were most Agile and Vigorous, a slight Blow or Offence would for some time hinder their Motion, if not deprive them of Life, which was very very extraordinary in a Creature of that Strength and Vivacity in its Flight. During these unsavourable Seasons of Weather, the Swine and Poultry of the Country at length grew so cunning, as to watch under the Trees for their falling; and when they came to the Ground eat them up in abundance, being much pleased with the Food, and thriving well upon the Diet: Nay, I have been assured, that the poorer sort of the Native Irish (the Country then labouring under a Scarcity of Provision) had a way of dressing them, and lived upon them as Food; nor is it strange that what fattened our domestick Poultry and Hogs, should afford agreeable and sufficient Nourishment for the Relief of Man. In a little time it was found, that Smoak was another thing that was very offensive to these Flies, and by burning Heath, Fern, and such like Weeds, in this or that Corner of their Gardens or Orchards, which lay most convenient for the Wind to disperse it among the Trees, they would secure their Gardens and prevent their Incursions, or if they had already made any Incroachment upon them, by this means they effectually drove them out again. But towards the latter end of the Summer, the exact time I have not learnt, they constantly eased the Country, and retired of themselves; and so wholly disappeared, that in a few Days you should not see one left in all those parts that were so lately pester'd with them. Where they go is made a Question, some thinking they take their Flight like Swallows, and other Birds of Passage, as they are call'd, to a more distant Country and warmer Climate. But I believe there is no other Ground for this Fancy, than 'tis observed of this Insect, that sometimes it is Migratory, and removes its Quarters from one King- Kingdom to another; but this I conceive is but accidental; and that it commonly quits its former Seat, only for want of Provision, or as we see Bees do, when they find their Hive, or whatever place they fix upon for their Habitation, becomes over stockt and too narrow a Compass for their Reception: as for their removing to so great a Distance, as to Change one Country for another, it happens only I suppose, when some high Wind suddenly rises at the time of their Swarming, and drives them even cross the Seas to seek for a new Dwelling in some other Land. The true Reason then of their disappearing I take to be, that after their Coition is over, for 'tis about this time they are seen to Couple by fastening to one another by their Tails, they retire under Ground in order to lay their Spawn there, for a succeeding Generation; and likewise to compose and settle themselves to sleep for the rest of the ensuing Year, as several other Animals are known to do: for Instance, Snails among Insects, the Hedge-bog among the Beasts, and as I have good reason to think, the Ortygometra or Rail among the Birds; a sort of Fowl, that's scarce, if at all met with in some parts of England, yet very numerous in all parts of this Country in its Season, but that's but short, and lasts not above Three or Four Months in the Summer, during all the remaining parts of the Year, it lies buried and asleep under Ground like these Flies. What further confirms me in this Opinion concerning these Insects, is, that I am certainly informed by several good Hands, that in the Spring time, by accidental digging or plowing up the Ground, great Hollows or Nests of them are frequently discovered and broken up, where they find whole bushels together in one Heap, but in such a quiet Condition they seem to have but little Life and Motion, for they do not stir unless you touch or disturb them, and then move but little and feebly, as if they had been asleep and were wakened out of it. Whether they find out these large Caverns to which they retire, ready made in the Earth, or hollow and form them first for their own Reception, I cannot say, but this I am assured, that they are often met with under a firm solid Surface of Earth, that has not been stirred or plowed in many Years before, and no manifest Passage can be discovered how they got there. I am informed of another Particular relating to them, and which indeed was very remarkable; That a Year or Two ago in the Summer, all along the South-West Coast of the County of Gallway, for some Miles together, there were found dead on the Shoar, such infinite Multitudes of this Vermin, and in such vast Heaps, that by a moderate Estimate, one computed there could not be less than Forty or Fifty Horse Loads in all; which plainly discovers to me, how and from whence the first Stock of these came to us, in 1688. For, as I take it, this exceeding great Quantity that lay dead in the Strand, was a new Colony or a supernumerary Swarm from the same Place, driven by the Wind to Sea from their Native Land, which I conclude to be Normandy or Brittany in France, it being a Country much infested with this Insect, and that lies very open and exposed to all these Parts of Ireland; and from whence *England heretofore * Of which the Learned Monfett in his Book de Infeftis has left us a remarkable History, p. 160. where speaking of this same Fly, he says; Proditum est in Anglorum Annalibus, Anno Chrifi 1574. vicefimo quarto Februarii, tantam eorum Multitudinem in Sabrinam Fluvium de lapide, ut aquaticis Molendinis Rotas fiferent, etque obuerent; & sane nisi una cum Hominum Industria, Gallina, Anates, Caprimulgæ, Tinnunculi, Vespertiliones, aliæq. Pradatrices Aves, (qua hos in Primariis habere cibis videntur) auxilio fuissent, suffocata ab eis Molendine, etiam num bodie obmutuiffent. has been pester'd in the same manner with Swarms of this Vermin. But these meeting, by good Fortune, with a contrary Wind before they could reach Land, their Progress was stopt, and tired with their Voyage, they were all driven into the Sea, which by the Motion of its Waves and Tide, cast their floating Bodies in Heaps upon the Shore. This was a most lucky Accident, for had this Second Supply met with as favourable a Gale, and the like Reception with their Predecessors, 'twould have been of vast ill Consequence to us; for how exceedingly must they have increased the Numbers of these we have here already, which alone are sufficient, yearly to trouble and damnify the Country to a great Degree. Yet some Years are observed not to be near so much infested with them, as others, either on the Account, as I imagine, of the Season proving more prejudicial to them and their Spawn; or that they removing their Quarters, leave one part of the Country more free, to settle in another; for they seldom keep above a Year together in a Place, and they compute their usual Stages or March to be about Six Miles in a Year. Hitherto they have directed their Progress from the Place where they first made their Invasion, Westerly, following the Course of that Wind which blows most commonly in this Country. This last Year, 1697, they have reached as far as the Shannon, and some of the scatter'd loose Parties cross the River, and got into the Province of Leinster, but were met there by a stronger Army of Jackdaws, that did much Execution among them, killing and devouring great Numbers. Their main Body still keeps in Connought, and took up their last Quarters at a well improv'd English Plantation, not far from the River Shannon, called Earscourt, where they found plenty of Pro- vision, and did a great deal of Mischief by stripping the Hedges, Gardens, and Groves of Beech quite naked of all their Leaves. They begin to be apprehensive of them in the Queens County; and in order to defend themselves against their Incursions, are resolved upon their first Approach, to fire the Mountains between them and the King's Country, that abound much with Heath, and by this means raising a Smoke, they hope they may force them to turn their Course another way, and so prevent their making an Inrode into these Parts. Wherever the Country has been infested with this Vermin, by one Consent, though Erroneously, they have given them the Name of Locusts, being led into this Perswasion, I suppose, by thinking that nothing of this kind could have been so Numerous, and done so much Mischief, but Locusts only; of which, and the great Destruction wrought by them, they have heard mention so often made in the Scriptures. But the true Locust, much resembling in Shape a Common Grasshopper, though larger, is quite a different sort of Insect from this, which belongs to that Tribe call'd by the Naturalists Κολεοπτέροι, or Vaginipennis, the Scarabeus or Beetle Kind, that has strong thick Cases to defend and cover their tender thin Wings, that lie out of Sight and next the Body. This Species is certainly that particular Beetle, call'd by Aristotle in his History of Animals Μελολάνθη, from its devouring the Blossoms of Apple Trees, see Aldrovandus de Insectis, Lib. 4. Pag. 448. and is the Scarabeus Arboreus of Moufet and Charleton, call'd by the English, Dorrs or Hedge-Chaffers, and by the French, Les Hannetons. They are much of the Bigness of the common Black Beetle, but of a Brownish Colour, something near that of Cinnamon, they are thickly bespersed with a fine short downy Hair, that shews as if they were powder'd all over with a fine sort of Dust: The Cases of their Wings do not entirely cover all the Back, for their long pecked Tails, where lie the Organs for Generation) reach a good way beyond them; The Indentures or Joints of each side their Belly, appear much Whiter than the rest: But to avoid being so particular in describing all their Parts, I have hereto annexed a true and exact Figure of one of them, borrowed from the Scarabeorum Tabulae Mutae of Dr. Lister, who has neatly exprest it. See the Table, Fig. 1. And this will give your Lordship at one View, a fuller and truer Idea of them, than the longest and most accurate verbal Description possibly could. Here some pleasant scoffing Men in the World perhaps might be apt to say, what an extravagant Folly this is, to make so many Words, and keep all this ado, about a poor contemptible Fly. But if these Gentlemen will consider the exceeding great Dammage, that sometimes befalls Mankind, as a Natural Attendant on this insignificant Animal as they would have it, their idle ridiculing Humour might with as much Shew of Reason, droll upon and expose a serious Discourse of the Plague. To proceed then: This pernicious Insect of ours, I am fully convinced, my Lord, from Good Reasons, is, that self same (so often mentioned in Holy Scripture, and commonly joined in Company with the Locust, as being both great Destroyers of the Fruits of the Earth) to which the Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin Translation, retaining the Greek Word, give the Name of Βεβοχος or Bruchus, derived from Βεβοχω, Frendo vel Strideo, intimating the remarkable Noise it makes both in its eating and flying, from whence likewise it has got its French Name Han- neton, (as the judicious Furetiere in his copious French Dictionary tell us) by Corruption from Aliton, quasi alis Tonans. I meet with this sort of Fly spoken of in the Bible, Leviticus Chap. ii. Ver. 22. Joel Chap. i. Ver. 4. and Chap. 2. Ver. 25. and Nahum, Chap. 3. Ver. 16,17. and it may occur, for ought I know, in several other Places; but I find our English Version almost constantly translates this Word ῥῆξος, though improperly, as I think, Cancer Worm, since this denotes only a Reptile, or creeping Vermin, whereas that Word imports cer- tainly a Flying Insect. For the ῥῆξος in Chap. 3. Ver. 16, 17. of the Prophet Nahum is expressly said to Flie, and have Wings, and its Nature and Properties are most truly and particularly described in these Words: It spoil- eth and fleeth away, they camp in the Hedges in the Day, and when the Sun ariseth they flee away, and their Place is not known where they are: That is, they then retire again to the Hedges and Trees where they lie quiet and concealed, till the Sun sets again. If this Passage be compared with what I have said above of our Irish ῥῆξος, we must allow Nahum plaid the Natural Philosopher here, in this short, but accurate Description, as well as the Divine Prophet, in denoun- cing God’s Judgments. In one of the forementioned Texts I find indeed, the Word ῥῆξος more rightly translated Locust or Beetle in our English Bibles, and this Place on another Account seems so apposite and agreeable to something I said before, I cannot avoid taking particular Notice of it to your Lordship, and on this Occasion give you my Thoughts more fully concerning the Rationale of that odd Clause in the Jewish Law, where Moses tells the Israelites, Leviti- cas Chap. 11. Ver. 21, 22. That these may ye eat, of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have Legs above their Feet to leap withal upon the Earth, even these of them ye may eat; the Locust after his kind, and the bald Locust after his kind, and the Beetle after his kind, and the Grasshopper after his kind. Now I must confess, notwithstanding all that the learned Commentators have said on this Passage, it hitherto has seemed to me, (and I believe to most Readers) very strange and unaccountable, that here among the Pure, Wholesom Creatures, proper for humane Nourishment, Beetles, and those other Nasty, Dry, and Unpromising Vermin, should be thought fit to be reckon'd up, as Clean and proper for the Food of Man. But since I have had some little Experience of what has happen'd among our selves, upon Swarms of one of these sort of Insects infesting but a small part of our Country; I cannot but admire the Providence of God, and the sagacious Prudence of his Divine Law-giver, Moses, who foreseeing the great Dearth and Scarcity that these Vermin might one Day bring upon his People, had a particular regard to it, and therefore gives them here a permissive Precept, or a sort of Hint what they should do, when the Corn, Grass, Olive-Trees, Fruit-Trees, Vines, and other Provisions were destroyed by the Locust and Bees, or Beetles swarming in the Land: why then for want of other Nourishment, and rather than starve, he tells them, they might eat, and live upon, the filthy Destroyers themselves, and yet be Clean: For no one can reasonably imagine, they would ever condescend to make use of such vile, dirty Food, if they could at the same time get any other. So we are to understand that Passage of the New Testament, in St. Matth. Chap. 3. Ver. 4. and Mark Chap. 1. Ver. 6. where 'tis re- recorded of St. John Baptist, that he lived upon Locusts and Wild Honey, that he did this only in the Desert Wilderness, where no other sustenance was to be had. And thus we see the Native Irish were (though unknown to themselves) Authors of a practical Commentary on this part of the Levitical Law, and by Matter of Fact have explained what was the true Sense and Meaning of this otherwise so dark and abstruse Text; and indeed such a Caution as this was highly necessary, and of so great Moment to the Jews, that it was well worth the Care and Wisdom of their great Leader and Prophet, to insert a Particular Clause in their Law concerning it: For 'tis certain Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, and the other neighbouring Countries about them, were all extremely subject to be infested with these sorts of pernicious Vermin; which is the Reason they are so frequently mentioned, and sometimes threatened as Judgments to the Jews, by the Prophets in their Sacred Writings. And this also puts in my Thoughts, that it is more than probable, this same destructive Beetle we are speaking of, was that very kind of Scarabeus, the Idolatrous Egyptians of old had in such high Veneration, as to pay Divine Worship to it, and so frequently grave its Image upon their Agulios and Obelisks, as we see at this Day: though the learned and refining Antiquaries, I know, give a far other Account of this Matter, and tell us a Story of the Beetle being an Hieroglifical Representation of the Sun, and therefore held as sacred among them; yet this is made out but very lamely, and in my Opinion is a strange and a forced Conjecture. Whereas nothing can be supposed more Natural, than to imagine a Nation addicted to Polytheism, as the Egyptians were, in a Country frequently suffering great Mischief chief and Scarcity from Swarms of devouring Insects, should from a strong Sense and Fear of Evil to come, (the common Principle of Superstition and Idolatry) give sacred Worship to the visible Authors of these their Sufferings, in hopes to render them more propitious for the Future. Thus 'tis allowed of all Hands that the same People adored as Gods, the ravenous Crocodiles of their River Nile; and thus the Romans, though more Polite and Civilized in their Idolatry, Februm ad minus nocendum venerabantur, eamq; variis Templis extructis coelebant; says Valerius Maximus, Lib. 2. Cap. 5. nor were the barbarous Irish, though Christian, backward to entertain several superstitious Fancies of this Vermin we are discoursing of, some imagining they were the Souls of their deceased Friends, kill'd in the Battle of Agbrim, come in this manner by way of Transmigration, to infest their Enemies, the Heretick English, because they saw they were the most disturbed, and suffered the greatest Losses by them: But this was only because their Places of abode were most improved, and so afforded them best Reception, and greatest Plenty of Provision for their Entertainment. Whether these Physico-Theological Notions may be agreeable to your Lordship's Sentiments, I don't know; and therefore I lay them with all Deference before your great Stock of Learning and most discerning Judgment, as a certain Test to discover to me, whether there is anything in them or no: and if I am so happy as to find they are approved by you, though they are out of the common Rode; or should they run counter to what others have said, I shall not fear Censure, or believe myself at all the less in the Right; for I am safe and pleased pleased while I think as you think, and 'tis my greatest Ambition to be TOUR LORDSHIP's Most Humble Follower, and Dutiful Servant in every Thing, Thomas Molyneux. POSTSCRIPT. MY LORD, It unluckily so fell out, that I could not get the perusal of the industrious Bochart's learned Work De Animalibus Sacrae Scripturae, (though I earnestly desired it) till I had made an end of this Letter: But since I have procured it; and looking over what he says of this Subject, I find though he differs from me in some things, yet he plainly confirms several Passages in the foregoing Paper, as I could shew by Citations out of him; but the Book being common, and in every Bodies Hands, I chuse rather to refer to it, than trouble your Lordship with adding any thing more, but that I am again. Your most Faithful, Humble Servant, T. M. III. Part