162 INDIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



ject to the distemper last named ; yet Linne quotes the 

 learned work of a Swedish physician on Sj/phi/is, who 

 gravely gives this as a fact ^ ! ! The inoculator, in truth, 

 is the gad-fly, the tumours it causes are the pustules, 

 and its larvaB are the pus. — It is astonishing how dread- 

 fully these poor animals in hot weather are terrified and 

 injured by them : ten of these flies will put a herd of 

 five hundred into the greatest agitation. They cannot 

 stand still a minute, no not a moment, without chang- 

 ing their posture, puffing and blowing, sneezing and 

 snorting, stamping and tossing continually ; every in- 

 dividual trembling and pushing its neighbour about. 

 The ovipositor of this fly is similar to that of the ox- 

 breese, consisting of several tubular joints which slip 

 into each other ; and therefore Linne was probably mis- 

 taken in supposing that it lays its eggs upon the skin of 

 the animal, and that the bot, when it appears, eats its 

 way through it*" : there can be little doubt (or else what 

 is the use of such an apparatus ?) that it bores a hole in 

 the skin and there deposits the eggs. About the be- 

 ginning of July the rein-deer sheds its hair, which then 

 stands erect — at this time the fly is always fluttering 

 about it, and takes its opportunity to oviposit. Tlie 

 bots remain under the skin through the whole winter, 

 and grow to the size of an acorn. Six or eight of these 

 are often to be found in a single rein-deer that has only 

 seen one winter ; and these so emaciate them, that fre- 

 quently one third of their number j^^' rish in consequence. 

 Even those that are full grown suffer greatly from this 

 insect. The fly follows the animals over precipicey, 

 valleys, the snow-covered mountains, and even the 



« Lack. Lapp. i. 280. " Flor, Lapp. 379. 



