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 devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord."
BUTTERFLIES OF PALESTINE.
Syrian Grayling (Hipparchia Persephone). Syrian Orange-tip (Antocharis Glauce).
Syrian Swallow-tail (Papilio Virgatus).
"That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten."—Joel i. 4.
The Jewish Bible retains the reading of palmer-worm, but affixes the mark of doubt, as it does to the canker-worm. Some Hebraists have thought that the word gâzam 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—Flies and ophthalmia—Signor Pierotti's account of the Flies—The sovereign remedy against Flies—Causes 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.