hand anheni the weather is■ altering, according to the, unalterable
laws of nat-iye.;. rj
I S E C f p XX. i
Ö f the Norwegian quadrupedes, there is yet one left which
may bereferred to thecials of rats and mice, it, is called byjfopao
people , ^em«^ j^pthqra*. Lsemen, Lemming or Lomhundf;
in Lappilb* Lummick j in Swedilh, Fieldmuus, RodrUrwis,
fiabclmuus j and of feme Latin writers, Mus Nervagicus, Norik
Thein original or native country^ is the moubtajafer
rock of Kolen,; in Lapland^, belonging to the Swedes, as weM^as
to tbieN(^ye^iVseighbouring provinces, j and,we- find ta Swedilh
wp^er, namely, Olaas Magnus, is the firft among us* who^in-
^s HaAf^eptenii^ L..-xriü. bas given ps-any ,wtitte|a accounts
pf this aftonifhing and pernicious- creature; though no*
more- than what Gefner, in Icon animal . ? Cap, xwii. art. %. hasi alfo
related *. Jul. Caafi Spifig, Exercv ip2.,Se&. 3. Jac. Zieglero in
Oelcript^ Noryeg< ad Caftra Bakuf. Johnftonis in Taumatogra-
phiae Clafie, iv. bap. 8* as-weli as i%Hift. Nait. Quadfui^d. cap.
xviii. art. 3. has mentioned^ ifc r and the induftrious and learned
iDofit. O Wormius has thoughtit worthy,, to be ilfufirated with
a Scriptum, Morpgraphqn,! ^entitled, Hiftoria Murk Norvagid vet
animalisy quod e nubibus quandoque in Norvegia decidit, 8c, fata
ac gramma magno incolarum detrimento celerrime depalcifcur.
It likewife pands in the-Memoks of the Academy, pf Sciences
in SwedpUy adpan. i ^ q ?i L p. j f p ; , Hr. Linnaeus alfo remarks
on the Lemming, in his two taft particular writings, and
the univerfe! report of-the country confirms the. fa&s, things not
cqnfiftent wl|h.repfon. oniy...excepted.,. jAfter this :preip®niti®n $
lhall; ^ive a lbort eietra^:, and leave it for others to amend j for
this is the- only w^y 'fq attam, or make advancements in the
knowledge of nature, or to elucidate it by degrees.".
, The LemmingVflaape and make* ;a& Wormius L. C. reprefen ts
them in a print, find l do not .pretend to know any more, except
from their lbinsy. of which I have ieen mamy^ is in part like a
mpnie* and parLllke a rat, excepting that the tail is very fhort,
about, a thumb’s length, and a little turn’d up at the end ; the
legs, are yery Ihort, and icarce appear to keep the belly from the
grqund y the head, and mouth are like; a field moufe, with very
long and large whijkers,’ qonfifting of about half a fcorelong hairs
t.L®''IflanÄs &? NofVe'gis noxaVvelrdaffthuhijift. Laeminge illis didtr funt mures
noxii fegetibus, Nprvegis^peculiares, quos ccelo deridifie, & per agros di&erlbs alicubi
»bviarunt. - Qi Scaling in Nods ädTößdfft -Äjbfalotiis, Nö. f?,, p. 147.
on epefi fide, they ate Iqmefbii^krjgqp than a_ moufe,. but not
quite.jp big as augk’ri bpye.vey^fifi h$g#S,|and, ©f difierent, colours;
blackSiwim yellow apd -i bf0Fbi i%ififeaks, and, lomev io. ipots
Their, eyes and ears, a r e . l m a l l * l o n g and lharp. They Piagne,
muff multiply very fafi byf what we; feo of them, tho’ (God be
praifed)j bnt'fejdooi'i i*. e- ^out«onife;oc twice in twenty years,
When theyre?mqfiom\ their -pec^daicriafeedesci at thelef tihaes they
gatbAt; ,iii, grea|? -R?ck^? to^tbe%, cnafil^g'offmany thoufands*
like. tfie. fioRs of pod,, to execute big,, will j i- e. to punifli the
neighbouring inhabitants* by dfftEoying the feed, eorn> and grafe i
fey where. this,; flpck, advances,. they make a vifible path-way on
thcrearth pr .grsundj, , cdfitifigoff" all that is, green 5: and- this they
ha$e. power or ftreng^h to 4d till they reach their appointed bounds,
which is. the fea,, ip which they fwim a little about,; and then
fink and drown. .For» Ipnger t-han one year God does not fuffer
fijis plague, to be. upofl? uft*, and then, it only rages here and there,
m certain, di^i^ts at a time *. It does, not laft long, but in the
end* a natural tendjmey to drown themyhey
periflh by the ^inter’s^ eeld j or
Style as feon. as tl^y eat theinew' grafej
for it does npt agyqe -with, them. The Finlaps^degs dewour many
of them, eatipg allihut .thmr b^ds. • From Kefena Rockj which
divideSrthe ffordland manor, fiom Sweden, and which, is held to
bethcir 'peculiai and. native place, they am. pblerved, when the
Wandering fk cqmes upon them, marching in vaft flocks through
Fiordland and Finma-rck, to the weftern ocean * and other bodies of
them through flwedilh Lapmarck, to the Sinus Bathnicus.: They
do this* j according to Hr- Linn^us’s, account, in filch a; dire6i line*
that they will npt turn, on apy fide* or make any fiveep 5 and if
they miffb round a large ftone, then they feck their line on
the other fide, and ip keep ftrait on.. If they find a boat on any
frelh water river, they run in at ope end, or fide, and out again
at tke otfier* ip order to keep their courfe. Their youpg they
carry, with them caj their backs, or in their mouths. I f they
once. meet ;with tfie peafapts to ©ppofe them* they will ftand undaunted^
and bark at them* like little (lags. From this circum->
fiance they ^ called by feme Lomhunde, and particularly, if
- In.^sghe'f^drderis Tog®rfej In this diocefi* it happens. every •k^'d or fourth:
year, that a few Lemen are feen here, yet but few, and ednnot .do much harm. ‘ TRhefer
isdsept heieNalfe.trlw^ isqiaidfed a, |ef|iTOh §f*ce: * y?ar, M this manqer : they
'v,'efki!3g>
TOsfoofe iM rite-from a faft-day whknlvaskept TO foripet^ vlri^es, torayert'die plague
c£ Lepian, »t>d p$h$r M'cej whtsh fome pretend hav$ been ufed to Ml down-1 formerly
' trotn the* clouds j but of this- 1 have no authentick account.