expressions in scripture respecting the destructiveness of the moth.
"Your garments are moth-eaten." James v. 2. "He, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten."—Job xiii. 28. "They all shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up."—Is. l. 9. "The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worms shall eat them like wool." Is. li. 8. "From garments cometh a moth." Eccles. xlii. 13. "Treasures, where moth and rust corrupt." Matt. vi. 19.
But it is to be observed, that the sacred writers mention not the moth, but the minute worm, which changes into a moth, and which alone gnaws the garments. In the passages which have been quoted, the word "moth" must be understood to signify the larva[1] of the clothes-moth (Phalæna Vestianella, Linn.), or of some insect of the same kind.
- ↑ When an insect first issues from the egg, it is called by naturalists larva.
