tion is more rapid and sudden than that of the bee, and resembles that of the gad-fly in England. There is something particular in the sound or buzzing of this insect. It is a jarring noise, together with a humming; which induces me to believe it proceeds, at least, in part, from a vibration made with the three hairs at his

snout.

It is a well known fact, that the Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to several sorts of flies and insects; and this, as the learned Bryant has shown, gave a peculiar character to the judgment brought upon them by the plague of flies, since their punishment was inflicted by means of the very things they revered, and which none of the spells or charms of the magicians and priests could in any way propitiate.

Among the ridiculous idols worshipped by the ancient Canaanites, Beel-zebub, the god of flies, appears to have been one, as he had, during the times of the Old Testament history, a famous temple and oracle at Ekron, 2 Kings i. This name was afterwards used by the Jews to signify 'the prince of devils,' Matthew x. 24, &c.

In Hosea iv. 16, we read of Israel sliding back as a blacksliding heifer,' where the original signifies, properly, a cow which has been stung by a gad-fly, or other insect, and refers to those retreats of safety to which the animal betakes itself under such circumstances,

THE HORNET.

THIS voracious and destructive insect was employed by Jehovah for the purpose of driving the enemies of Israel from the land of promise, Exod. xxiii. 38; Deut. vii. 20; Josh. xxiv. 12. Several commentators understand these passages metaphorically, as denoting the terror of the Lord, or some remarkable disease which he commissioned to lay waste the country before the armies of Israel ; from a conception that an insect of this description was altogether inadequate to accomplish such a purpose. But we see no necessity to depart from the literal interpretation of the texts. The hornet, which belongs to the species Crabro, and is of the genus vespa or wasp, is a most voracious insect, and is exceedingly strong for its size, which is generally an inch long, though Dr. Clarke states he has seen some an inch and a half long, and so strong, that having caught one in a small pair of forceps, it repeatedly escaped by using violent contortions, so that at last he was obliged to abandon all hope of securing it alive, which he wished to have done. How distressing and destructive a multitude of these might be, says this eminent writer, any person may conjecture: even the bees of one hive would be sufficient to sting a thousand men to madness; but how much worse must wasps and hornets be! No armor, no weapons, could avail against these. A few thousands of them would be quite sufficient to throw the best disciplined army into confusion and rout.

But instances of whole nations being driven from their countries by insects of different kinds, is attested by many ancient authors; and what is particularly applicable here is, that according to Elian, the Phaselians, a people descended from the Canaanites, and who dwelt about the mountains of Solyma, were driven out of their country by wasps.

Fear ye not the reproach of men,

Neither be ye afraid of their revilings;

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,

And the worm shall eat them like wool.

But my righteousness shall be forever,

And my salvation from generation to generation.—ch. li. 7, 8,

In Job xxvii. 18, there is another reference to this insect, deserv ing of notice. Speaking of the oppressors of the poor, the afflicted patriarch says:-'He buildeth his house like a moth, or like a shed which the watchman contriveth.' That is, feeble in its structure and materials, short in its duration, and equally incapable of resisting a thunder-storm or a shower of rain. So, in chap. viii. 14:"Thus, shall his support rot away, and the BUILDING OF THE SPIDER be his reliance.' The genus phalana, or moth, is divided into plantmoths and cloth-moths; the latter have generally been supposed to be those immediately alluded to in this passage. This is doubtful, but the question is not of consequence; the house or building referred to is that provided by the insect in its larve or caterpillar state, as a temporary residence during its wonderful change, from a chrysalis to a winged or perfect insect. The slightness of this habitation is well known to every one who has attended to the curious operations of the silk-worm, or the tribes indigenous to the plants of our own country. Of these, some construct a solitary dwelling, while others are gregarious, vast numbers residing togeth er under one common web, marshalled with the most exact regularity. The web of the cloth-moth is formed of the very substance of the cloth on which it reposes, devoured for this purpose, and afterwards worked into a tubular case, with open extremities, and generally approaching to the color of the cloth by which the worm is nourished.

Among the injunctions which our Saviour impressed on the minds of his disciples, in his inimitable sermon, in Matthew, chap. vi., we find one in which there is a reference to the insatiable voracity of the moth: 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,' &c. ver. 19, 20. The destruction which they very frequently occasion among woollen clothes, in our own country, is well known to almost every person, but in the East there are different species of this insect, and some of a kindred description, of whose ravages we can form but a very imperfect conception.