ORDER VII.—TW0-WINGED INSECTS, OR FLIES. 317 
at times from the ravages of the mosquitoes. Although 
they are fortunately not seen every year, these blood-suckers 
may be considered a real Egyptian plague among the herds 
of these Cossacks; for they soon transform the most delight- 
ful plains into a mournful, solitary desert, killing all the 
beasts, and completely stripping the fields of every animated 
creature. One can not look upon the spectacle without 
pity when he sees the poor cattle exhibiting so much terror 
at the approach of these innumerable swarms of mosquitoes, 
whole herds hurrying home for shelter, running as if mad, 
and often, in their fright, plunging into the river and being 
drowned. ‘Thousands of these insatiate tormentors enter 
the nostrils, ears, eyes, and mouth of the cattle, who short- 
ly after die in convulsions, or from secondary inflammation, 
or from absolute suffocation. In the small town of Eliza- 
bethpol alone, during the month of June, thirty horses, forty 
foals, seventy oxen, ninety calves, a hundred and fifty hogs, 
and four hundred sheep, were killed by these flies. 
In temperate climates this kind of mosquito is only ter- 
rific during several weeks in summer, but in the tropics, al- 
though they are not so injurious, they are very troublesome 
throughout the year; and in our excursions in the Antilles 
of America we could never enter the woods without having 
the head, face, and neck covered with gauze, and the hands 
with leather gloves, for every leaf of every plant and tree © 
actually swarmed with them. 
As we have already mentioned, there are many species 
of the mosquito scattered all over the globe, but their ex- 
ternal and internal condition and characteristics, as well as 
their habits and manner of living, are about the same. 
They are provided with a long, horny, stiff, and perpendic- 
ular proboscis, with antennez consisting of fourteen joints, 
feathered on the males, and with two wings covered with 
small scales. Every part of this insect, when magnified, 
presents not only a beautiful and wonderful appearance, but 
