1 18 BREEZE-FLY. 



priately were they named 'burning flies,' for, 

 wherever they thrust in the lancet, it is just as 

 though a brad-awl needle had been bored slowly 

 into one's flesh. They continue the summer 

 through until September, but luckily are con- 

 fined to particular districts. Sandy soil, and lots 

 of water, are the essential elements conducive 

 to their welfare and multiplication. Bad as these 

 burning flies are, I still maintain Madam Mos- 

 quito is far the worst. The Ladies Brulot do in- 

 dulge in a short repose, but Mistress Mosquito, I 

 believe, never winks her eyes, and is always on 

 the move. 



By Breeze-fly I mean flies belonging to the 

 genus Tabanus, not those of the genus (Estrus, 

 with which they are frequently confounded. The 

 latter commonly called Bot-fly, which is also a 

 terrible pest, alike avoided by both horse and 

 ruminant deposits its eggs sometimes on the 

 hair, and sometimes underneath the skin ; hence 

 animals, guided by a natural instinct, or having 

 been the victims of a past and painful expe- 

 rience, all at the sound of his dreaded trumpet 

 make the best of their way to the nearest water, 

 into which they plunge. 



On the contrary, in the Breeze-fly we have to 

 do with a veritable blood-sucker, more ravenous 



