Twelfth Report of the State Entomologist 323 



Means of Protection. 

 In that portion of the world which we occupy, and in the localities where 

 this insect occurs in annoying numbers, comparative immunity from its 

 attack is attainable by the use of mosquito nettings, but there are 

 countries where these luxuries are not procurable, nor would their 

 employment afford the desired protection. The inhabitants of some of 

 the districts of Brazil, at certain seasons, can only obtain sleep at night 

 by burying their bodies several inches beneath the sand, and covering 

 their heads with a thick cloth. On the west coast of Africa the natives 

 swing their hammocks from elevated posts with fires burning beneath 

 them to repel the insects with the smoke and heat. In Guiana the 

 poorer classes find a degree of protection in covering their bodies with 

 paint and varnish. Russian soldiers in the neighborhood of the Crimea 

 resorted to sleeping in sacks as a protection, but this served only as a 

 palliative of the unendurable torments to which they were subjected by 

 the attacks of the insatiable blood-suckers of that region. In Lapland, a 

 writer states, that it is impossible to eat or sleep or keep a light burning 

 in the hut without constant fumigation, and the additional resort to a 

 coating of the exposed portion of the person with rein-deer cream, rancid 

 fish-oil and tar. 



For the benefit of those whose summer wanderings may lead them into 

 the haunts of the mosquito, under circumstances when heavy gloves and 

 veils and nets may not be conveniently worn, I would state, that when 

 the annoyance becomes too serious to be longer borne, protection may 

 be procured by making oneself disagreeable to the mosquito through 

 means not quite so pronounced as that to which the Laplander resorts, 

 but by applying to the hands and face a small quantity of oil of tar com- 

 bined with a little carbohc acid. This is, perhaps, the best application 

 that can be used, as a preventive of mosquito attack under conditions 



above named. 



Severity of the Bite. 



The effects of the bite vary greatly in different persons. There are 

 those who are scarcely affected by it, and indeed are rarely bitten, either 

 by this insect, the bed-bug or the flea, although in situations exposing 

 them to attack and with their companions suffering from the infliction 

 I have no explanation to offer for the attractiveness of some persons 

 for these pests and the reverse in others, but it would seem that it might 

 result from some peculiar emenation from the person, as no attempt 

 is made to draw the blood or pierce the skin of those exempt from 

 attack. 



