272 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

trees and plants, stripped of their leaves, and reduced to
their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of
winter to succeed in an instant to the rich scenery of
spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight
to surmount any obstacle, or to traverse more rapidly a
desert soil, the heavens may be literally said to be obscured
by them.”

These last words are an ample comment on the expres-
sion, “The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars
shall withdraw their shining.” Many authors have also
noticed a resemblance between these insects and the horse,
particularly in the form of the head—‘ The appearance of
them is as the appearance of horses;” and this expression
may also refer to the strength and rapidity of their move-
ments. Isaiah says, in speaking of the enemies of the
church, “As the running to and fro of locusts, shall he
run upon them,” giving the same idea of swiftness. And.
in Revelation ix. there is another allusion to this apparent
resemblance to the horse in appearance : “ And the shapes
of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle;
and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots
of many horses running to battle.”

By the law of Moses, locusts were permitted as food,—