The kinds of flies are exceedingly numerous; some with two, and
some with four, wings. They abound in warm and moist regions, as in
Egypt, Chaldea, Palestine, and in the middle regions of Africa; and
during the rainy seasons are very troublesome. In the Hebrew Scriptures,
or in the ancient versions, are seven kinds of insects, which Bochart
classes among _muscæ_, or flies. These are, 1. ערב, Exod. viii, 20; Psa.
lxxviii, 45; cv, 31, which those interpreters who, by residing on the
spot, have had the best means of identifying, have rendered the
_dog-fly_, κυνόμυια, and it is supposed to be the same which in
Abyssinia is called the _zimb_. 2. זבוב, 2 Kings i, 2, 3, 6, 16; Eccles.
x, 1; Isa. vii, 18. Whether this denotes absolutely a distinct species
of fly, or swarms of all sorts, may be difficult to determine. 3. ידברה
Judges xiv, 18; Psa. cxviii, 12, rendered _bee_. 4. צרעה, σφὴξ, Exodus
xxiii, 28; Joshua xxiv, 12; Deut. vii, 20, _hornet_. 5. סרבים, οἶϛρος,
Ezek. ii, 6; Hosea iv, 16. 6. כק, κώνωψ, Matt. xxiii, 24, _the gnat_. 7.
כנים, σκνίφες, Exod. viii, 16; Psa. cv, 31, _lice_.
2. M. Sonnini, speaking of Egypt, says, “Of insects there the most
troublesome are the flies. Both man and beast are cruelly tormented with
them. No idea can be formed of their obstinate rapacity when they wish
to fix upon some part of the body. It is in vain to drive them away;
they return again in the self-same moment; and their perseverance
wearies out the most patient spirit. They like to fasten themselves in
preference on the corners of the eye, and on the edge of the eyelid;
tender parts, toward which a gentle moisture attracts them.” The
Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to several sorts of flies and
insects. If, then, such was the superstitious homage of this people,
nothing could be more determinate than the judgment brought upon them by
Moses. They were punished by the very things they revered; and though
they boasted of spells and charms, yet they could not ward off the evil.
3. “The word _zimb_,” says Bruce, “is Arabic, and signifies _the fly_ in
general.” The Chaldee paraphrase is content with calling it simply
_zebub_, which has the same general signification. The Ethiopic version
calls it _tsaltsalya_, which is the true name of this particular fly in
Geez. It is in size very little larger than a bee, of a thicker
proportion; and its wings, which are broader, are placed separate like
those of a fly. Its 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 in length; the lower jaw has two of these hairs: and this pencil of
hairs, joined together, makes a resistance to the finger, nearly equal
to a strong bristle of a hog. Its legs are serrated on the inside, and
the whole covered with brown hair, or down. It has no sting, though it
appears to be of the bee kind. As soon as this winged assassin appears,
and its buzzing is heard, the cattle forsake their food, and run wildly
about the plain till they die, worn out with affright, fatigue, and
pain. The inhabitants of Melinda down to Cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the
south coast of the Red Sea, are obliged to put themselves in motion, and
remove to the next sand in the beginning of the rainy season. This is
not a partial emigration; the inhabitants of all the countries, from the
mountains of Abyssinia northward, to the confluence of the Nile and
Astaboras, are, once in a year, obliged to change their abode, and seek
protection in the sands of Beja, till the danger of the insect is over.
The elephant and the rhinoceros, which by reason of their enormous bulk,
and the vast quantity of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to
desert and dry places, are obliged, in order to resist the zimb, to roll
themselves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats them over like
armour. It was no trifling judgment, then, with which the prophet
threatened the refractory Israelites: “The Lord shall hiss for the fly
that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee
that is in the land of Assyria,” Isaiah vii, 18. If the prediction be
understood in the literal sense, it represents the _œstra_ or
_cincinellæ_, as the armies of Jehovah, summoned by him to battle
against his offending people; or, if it be taken metaphorically, which
is perhaps the proper way of expounding it, the prophet compares the
numerous and destructive armies of Babylon to the countless swarms of
these flies, whose distant hum is said to strike the quadrupeds with
consternation, and whose bite inflicts, on man and beast, a torment
almost insupportable. How intolerable a plague of flies can prove, is
evident from the fact, that whole districts have been laid waste by
them. Such was the fate of Myuns in Ionia, and of Alarnæ. The
inhabitants were forced to quit these cities, not being able to stand
against the flies and gnats with which they were pestered. Trajan was
obliged to raise the siege of a city in Arabia, before which he had sat
down, being driven away by the swarms of these insects. Hence different
people had deities whose office it was to defend them against flies.
Among these may be reckoned Baalzebub, the fly-god of Ekron: _Hercules
muscarum abactor_, “Hercules, the expeller of flies;” and hence Jupiter
had the titles of ἀπόμυιος, μυΐαγρος, μυϊόχορος, because he was supposed
to expel flies, and especially to clear his temples of these insects.
4. Solomon observes, “Dead flies cause the apothecary’s ointment to
stink,” Eccles. x, 1. “A fact well known,” says Scheuchzer; “wherefore
apothecaries take care to prevent flies from coming to their syrups and
other fermentable preparations. For in all insects there is an acrid
volatile salt, which, mixed with sweet or even alkaline substances,
excites them to a brisk intestine motion, disposes them to fermentation,
and to putrescence itself; by which the more volatile principles fly
off, leaving the grosser behind: at the same time, the taste and odour
are changed, the agreeable to fetid, the sweet to insipid.” This verse
is an illustration, by a very appropriate similitude, of the concluding
assertion in the preceding chapter, that “one sinner destroyeth much
good,” as one dead fly spoils a whole vessel of precious ointment,
which, in eastern countries, was considered as very valuable, 2 Kings
xx, 13. The application of this proverbial expression to a person’s good
name, which is elsewhere compared to sweet ointment, Eccles. vii, 1;
Cant. i, 3, is remarkably significant. As a fly, though a diminutive
creature, can taint and corrupt much precious perfume; so a small
mixture of folly and indiscretion will tarnish the reputation of one
who, in other respects, is very wise and honourable; and so much the
more, because of the malignity and ingratitude of mankind, who are
disposed rather to censure one error, than to commend many excellencies,
and from whose minds one small miscarriage is sufficient to blot out the
memory of all other deserts. It concerns us, therefore, to conduct
ourselves unblamably, that we may not by the least oversight or folly
blemish our profession, or cause it to be offensive to others.
some with four, wings. They abound in warm and moist regions, as in
Egypt, Chaldea, Palestine, and in the middle regions of Africa; and
during the rainy seasons are very troublesome. In the Hebrew Scriptures,
or in the ancient versions, are seven kinds of insects, which Bochart
classes among _muscæ_, or flies. These are, 1. ערב, Exod. viii, 20; Psa.
lxxviii, 45; cv, 31, which those interpreters who, by residing on the
spot, have had the best means of identifying, have rendered the
_dog-fly_, κυνόμυια, and it is supposed to be the same which in
Abyssinia is called the _zimb_. 2. זבוב, 2 Kings i, 2, 3, 6, 16; Eccles.
x, 1; Isa. vii, 18. Whether this denotes absolutely a distinct species
of fly, or swarms of all sorts, may be difficult to determine. 3. ידברה
Judges xiv, 18; Psa. cxviii, 12, rendered _bee_. 4. צרעה, σφὴξ, Exodus
xxiii, 28; Joshua xxiv, 12; Deut. vii, 20, _hornet_. 5. סרבים, οἶϛρος,
Ezek. ii, 6; Hosea iv, 16. 6. כק, κώνωψ, Matt. xxiii, 24, _the gnat_. 7.
כנים, σκνίφες, Exod. viii, 16; Psa. cv, 31, _lice_.
2. M. Sonnini, speaking of Egypt, says, “Of insects there the most
troublesome are the flies. Both man and beast are cruelly tormented with
them. No idea can be formed of their obstinate rapacity when they wish
to fix upon some part of the body. It is in vain to drive them away;
they return again in the self-same moment; and their perseverance
wearies out the most patient spirit. They like to fasten themselves in
preference on the corners of the eye, and on the edge of the eyelid;
tender parts, toward which a gentle moisture attracts them.” The
Egyptians paid a superstitious worship to several sorts of flies and
insects. If, then, such was the superstitious homage of this people,
nothing could be more determinate than the judgment brought upon them by
Moses. They were punished by the very things they revered; and though
they boasted of spells and charms, yet they could not ward off the evil.
3. “The word _zimb_,” says Bruce, “is Arabic, and signifies _the fly_ in
general.” The Chaldee paraphrase is content with calling it simply
_zebub_, which has the same general signification. The Ethiopic version
calls it _tsaltsalya_, which is the true name of this particular fly in
Geez. It is in size very little larger than a bee, of a thicker
proportion; and its wings, which are broader, are placed separate like
those of a fly. Its 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 in length; the lower jaw has two of these hairs: and this pencil of
hairs, joined together, makes a resistance to the finger, nearly equal
to a strong bristle of a hog. Its legs are serrated on the inside, and
the whole covered with brown hair, or down. It has no sting, though it
appears to be of the bee kind. As soon as this winged assassin appears,
and its buzzing is heard, the cattle forsake their food, and run wildly
about the plain till they die, worn out with affright, fatigue, and
pain. The inhabitants of Melinda down to Cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the
south coast of the Red Sea, are obliged to put themselves in motion, and
remove to the next sand in the beginning of the rainy season. This is
not a partial emigration; the inhabitants of all the countries, from the
mountains of Abyssinia northward, to the confluence of the Nile and
Astaboras, are, once in a year, obliged to change their abode, and seek
protection in the sands of Beja, till the danger of the insect is over.
The elephant and the rhinoceros, which by reason of their enormous bulk,
and the vast quantity of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to
desert and dry places, are obliged, in order to resist the zimb, to roll
themselves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats them over like
armour. It was no trifling judgment, then, with which the prophet
threatened the refractory Israelites: “The Lord shall hiss for the fly
that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee
that is in the land of Assyria,” Isaiah vii, 18. If the prediction be
understood in the literal sense, it represents the _œstra_ or
_cincinellæ_, as the armies of Jehovah, summoned by him to battle
against his offending people; or, if it be taken metaphorically, which
is perhaps the proper way of expounding it, the prophet compares the
numerous and destructive armies of Babylon to the countless swarms of
these flies, whose distant hum is said to strike the quadrupeds with
consternation, and whose bite inflicts, on man and beast, a torment
almost insupportable. How intolerable a plague of flies can prove, is
evident from the fact, that whole districts have been laid waste by
them. Such was the fate of Myuns in Ionia, and of Alarnæ. The
inhabitants were forced to quit these cities, not being able to stand
against the flies and gnats with which they were pestered. Trajan was
obliged to raise the siege of a city in Arabia, before which he had sat
down, being driven away by the swarms of these insects. Hence different
people had deities whose office it was to defend them against flies.
Among these may be reckoned Baalzebub, the fly-god of Ekron: _Hercules
muscarum abactor_, “Hercules, the expeller of flies;” and hence Jupiter
had the titles of ἀπόμυιος, μυΐαγρος, μυϊόχορος, because he was supposed
to expel flies, and especially to clear his temples of these insects.
4. Solomon observes, “Dead flies cause the apothecary’s ointment to
stink,” Eccles. x, 1. “A fact well known,” says Scheuchzer; “wherefore
apothecaries take care to prevent flies from coming to their syrups and
other fermentable preparations. For in all insects there is an acrid
volatile salt, which, mixed with sweet or even alkaline substances,
excites them to a brisk intestine motion, disposes them to fermentation,
and to putrescence itself; by which the more volatile principles fly
off, leaving the grosser behind: at the same time, the taste and odour
are changed, the agreeable to fetid, the sweet to insipid.” This verse
is an illustration, by a very appropriate similitude, of the concluding
assertion in the preceding chapter, that “one sinner destroyeth much
good,” as one dead fly spoils a whole vessel of precious ointment,
which, in eastern countries, was considered as very valuable, 2 Kings
xx, 13. The application of this proverbial expression to a person’s good
name, which is elsewhere compared to sweet ointment, Eccles. vii, 1;
Cant. i, 3, is remarkably significant. As a fly, though a diminutive
creature, can taint and corrupt much precious perfume; so a small
mixture of folly and indiscretion will tarnish the reputation of one
who, in other respects, is very wise and honourable; and so much the
more, because of the malignity and ingratitude of mankind, who are
disposed rather to censure one error, than to commend many excellencies,
and from whose minds one small miscarriage is sufficient to blot out the
memory of all other deserts. It concerns us, therefore, to conduct
ourselves unblamably, that we may not by the least oversight or folly
blemish our profession, or cause it to be offensive to others.