808 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

same general signification. The Ethiopic translation calls
it ¢salésalya, which is the true name of this particular fly in
Geez, and was the same in Hebrew.”

“Bruce thus describes this formidable insect. It is in
size very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion,
and has wings which are broader than those of a bee, placed
separate like those of a fly; they are of pure gauze, without
colour or spot upon them. The head is large; the upper
jaw or lip is sharp, and has at the end of it a strong pointed
hair, of about a quarter of an inch long, the lower jaw has
two of these pointed hairs; and this pencil of hairs, when
joined together, makes a resistance to the finger nearly
equal to that of a hog’s bristle. Its legs are serrated
in the inside, and the whole covered with brown hair or
down. It has no sting.” “As soon as this plague appears
and their buzzing is heard, all the cattle forsake their food,
and run wildly about the plain till they die, worn out with
fatigue, fright, and hunger. No remedy remains but to
leave the black earth (where they breed) and hasten down
to the sands of Atbara, and there they remain while the rains
last, this cruel enemy never daring to pursue them further.”
Without these precautions the whole stock of cattle would
be lost. The camel is equally liable to the attacks of this