Nephew rain
As a nephew of rain were referred to a medieval folk belief , the increased incidence of aphids on crops by summer rain described.
Popular belief
In the Middle Ages , the aphids (aphidoidea) were referred to as nephews in some regions, for example in the Meißner area or in Thuringia . The assumption that the name nephew developed etymologically from the Latin name aphis (for aphid) is not certain .
People observed that after rainfall, especially in warm temperatures, crops such as cabbage , elderberry and hops , but also other plants such as roses , were attacked by aphids in large numbers. They concluded that the pests came to earth with the rain, other theories even said that the lice came from the raindrops. Since the beginning of the 18th century at the latest, these theories have been refuted by natural scientists and viewed as a popular belief that the increased occurrence of pests was attributed on the one hand to the temperature change caused by the rain and on the other hand to the appearance of honeydew . At that time, honeydew was not recognized as a pure excretion product of insects, but rather it was seen as the cause of the massive occurrence of aphids.
The term nephew rain was occasionally used up into the 19th century. For example, the Heidelberg clinical annals in 1834 reported on the harmful effects of the summer nephew rain on humans and animals.
literature
- Johann Georg Krünitz : Economic Encyclopedia . tape 102 , p. 46 ( online ).
- Non-Entia Physica, that is the creation of the Scorpions from the crushed Basilico and the so-called nephew rain are untruths . In: Collection of nature and medicine as well as related art and literature stories . Published by David Richter, Leipzig and Bautzen 1726, p. 452 ff . ( Google Books ).
- Georg Ernst Stahl: Introduction to the new meteroscopy or weather interpretation . Verlag Waysenhaus, 1716, p. 58 f . ( Google Books ).
- Daniel Schneider: General Biblical Lexicon . tape 3 . Verlag Knoch, 1731, p. 661 ( Google Books ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joseph Marx Liechtenstern: General German subject dictionary of all human knowledge and skills . tape 6 . Published by FW Goedsche, Meißen 1836, p. 492 ( Google Books ).
- ^ Heidelberg clinical annals . tape 10 . Academic bookstore, Heidelberg 1834, p. 142 ff . ( Google Books ).