284 CULICID^ — GNATS. 



of the wild beasts in Mesopotamia, gives us the following 

 curious zoological theory on the destruction of lions by 

 mosquitoes : 



"The lions wander in countless droves among the beds 

 of rushes on the banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, and in 

 the jungles, and lie quiet all the winter, which is very mild 

 in that country. But when the warm weather returns, as 

 these regions are exposed to great heat, they are forced out 

 by the vapours, and by the size of the Gnats, with swarms 

 of which every part of that country is filled. And these 

 winged insects attack the eyes, as being both moist and 

 sparkling, sitting on and biting the eyelids; the lions, un- 

 able to bear the torture, are either drowned in the rivers, to 

 which they flee for refuge, or else, by frequent scratchings, 

 tear their eyes out themselves with tli^r claws, and then 

 become mad. And if this did not happen, the whole of the 

 East would be overrun with beasts of this kind."^ 



I have never heard of mosquitoes being turned to any 

 good account save in California; and there, it seems, ac- 

 cording to Rev. Walter Colton, they are sometimes made 

 the ministers of justice. A rogue had stolen a bag of gold 

 from a digger in the mines, and hid it. Neither threats nor 

 persuasions could induce him to reveal the place of its con- 

 cealment. Ife was at last sentenced to a hundred lashes, 

 and then informed that he would be let off with thirty, pro- 

 vided he would tell what he had done with the gold ; but 

 he refused. The thirty lashes were administered, but he 

 was still stubborn as a mule. He was then stripped naked, 

 and tied to a tree. The mosquitoes with their long bills 

 went at him, and in less than three hours he was covered 

 with blood. Writhing and trembling from head to foot 

 with exquisite torture, he exclaimed, " Untie me, untie me, 

 and I will tell where it is." " Tell first," was the reply. So 

 he told where it might be found. Then some of the party 

 with wisps kept ott" the still hungry mosquitoes, while 

 others went where the culprit directed, and recovered the 

 bag of gold. He was then untied, washed with cold water, 

 and helped to his clothes, while he muttered, as if talking to 

 himself, ''I couldn't stand that anyhow.'" 



The largest kind of mosquito in the valley of the lower 



1 Roman History, B. xviii. c. 7, § 5. 

 ^ Three Years in California, p. lioO, 



