CAN THE MOSQUITO BE EXTERMINATED? 143 



the agitation became so general that the school had to be 

 dismissed as an act of humanity. 



Again, I well remember, when a small boy upon the 

 hills of eastern Ohio, gazing with open eyed wonder upon 

 the beautiful forms of these insects as they flitted to and 

 fro, and heard my older companions speak of them as 

 "snake feeders." "Look out! There's a snake some- 

 where near ! Here's a snake feeder ! " I do not even 

 now know the origin of that term, or the meaning at- 

 tached to it by people generally ; but to my child's im- 

 agination there came up a picture of these strange insects 

 haunting some shady nook by running streams, where, 

 under the shelter of limestone rocks, the serpent reared 

 his head and thrust out his quivering tongue to receive 

 his daily supplies of food from his servant, the "snake 

 feeder." Is it strange if boyish fancy somehow associ- 

 ated the incident with all sorts of demoniac folklore 

 and ghost stories ? And yet, within two weeks from the 

 date of this writing, a well informed gentleman who did 

 not know this insect by the name of dragon fly recog- 

 nized it at once when I spoke of it as a " snake feeder." 

 AVith a keener sense of the beautiful, the French have 

 called this insect demoiselle. But for the most part 

 English terminology expresses superstitious fear or ig- 

 norance. 



There is, however, another popular name which shows 

 that the kindly service of these beautiful Neuroptera, the 

 Libellulidse, is known and appreciated. It is " the mos- 

 quito hawk." Those who have watched the dragon fly's 

 habits must have noticed that, as it flits here and there, it 

 is engaged in seizing and devouring various insects. In 

 regions infested by mosquitoes, those creatures contribute 



