any One ftrike at them with with a ftick, they will bite at it, in
the manner of a dog. Thefe verhiin prognofticate a1 bad 'harVeft
where-ever they take their courfe j but, in retütti, the bountry-
man expedh good hunting, or fport, of the bear, fox, maar,.and
leveral other large animals, which follow thefe creatures to
whom they are delicious food;
may be believed frotn common report, and the tfeftM&f ■ of fiiany
underftanding and honeft perfbns, who have made .nice obferva-
tions on thefe creatures 5 to that their hiftory being, fö far cdrjtairi,
Fail from the there remains one thing dubious, which is this j whether it is to be
believed that the Liemmingerne, according to common reporf, do
fall dowri out of the air ; which many, both in thefeahdfofirier
times, will pretend to fey they have feen with their own eyes.
Wormius, Scaliger.,-and other great men, do mot fuppofe..this
to be impoffible : they'imagine that the Lertimin^'likfe Trog§,
and other linall creatures', may/-in'their embribs, be attfadled to
the clouds, and being then ‘fcoibe to maturity, may drop' down.
Cum igitur- tot animalium genera in niibibus gdneratäj pluvjis
decidifle, fide dignorum autorum conftet teftimoniis quidni' SC
haec eodem rftodo generäta in riubibus flratüämus ? 'L . C,
P- 3 3 - To reconcile this ftrange 'account to, reafeh/2 bthejrs'
think it more probable, that the fbgs,: which femetimes. 'are
feen extremely thick upon the mountains, may ’iiff'the^mp
in multitudes, and carry them away to other places,;’yrhoie it is
but of late time they have ever been heard of. This Hr-. Linnaeus
believes as much, as that the feme fog is able to' take up a Fin'lap
with his Reenfdeer, and “carry him away 5* a [notidn/whihh;’ the
common people really have in that country; However, the a&re-
feid philofopher does not tell us, in'the'place of this which he
explodes, any other way that feems moye probable'for their being
brought to us. i f we Won’t ‘ deny all hiftoric faith which declares
for their- coming from the air, I will venture to give my
opinion, to; which Hr. Lucas Debes’s agreement gives feme
farther confirmation : in his Defcription of Faeroernes, p. 13, he
deferibes a fort of whirl-wind, called Oes, which elevates up, or'
draws up femetimes a whole laft of herrings out of the fea/ and
throws them: on the rocks. Such an effedä or power; the Finlaps
allow- to a yhick fog : concerning' the Oes I have already fpoken
largely, Cap. x. $. ult. P. 1.
And, in confirmation of this opinion, it is to be obferved,
however, that feme are found on the rocks, which appear to be
firuck dead by their fall; alfe that none in this country have
ever
over, feen“ their .young, as they do in Sweden. When they are
found' here they are nearly all- of a fize. :
The formular o f air exorcifm, which the Romifli clergy have
ufed, in order to banifli fuch cou&tiy plagues with, is introduced
5 ’ tl?us: ■ Exorcifmus. Exorcizo, vos
peftiferos 'vermes, mures^' afes, feu locu&as aut ammälia alia
per Deüm Patrermi« OfenipOimtem, & jfe&m^Cteiftuta filimn
ejus, &C Spiritum ^Särt&uäa ab utroque procedentem, ut odn-
feftinr recedatfs ab his^abipis, feu vlneis, vel aquis, sec araplius
iheis.habitet^, fed äd ea foca tranfeatis, in quibus nfemini necere
ppfiitis, & ex parte omnipot-entis Dei, •& totius cufisfe cdeleftis,
SC Ecdefiäs fenefee Dei, VOS; maledicefis. qdecaüqüe ierltis, fitis
xSi^ledi<äi, deficienttes de die in diem ip vosipfcs, -Sg decrefeeiites
quatenus reliquiae de vobis nullo inloco inveniantur 5 nifi necbfe
feriae.adfelutem & pfum humanamv qgod praeftare dignetur ille,
qui venturus eft jiidicare vivos & mprtuos.ßC feculum per ignem.
Aiken.”
P a r t II. K CHAP