VENOM OF THE GNAT. 603 



month of the female is armed. The male Gnat, in fact, is 

 perfectly harmless, and it is to the female alone that we owe 

 the annoyances which have rendered the sight of the delicate 

 little insect hateful to our eyes, and the really musical hum of 

 its wings a terror to our ears. 



In this favoured country, we know little of the powers of the 

 Gnat. "We often suffer very considerable inconvenience and 

 annoyance from them, as I can testify, having twice in the 

 summer of 1870 lost the use of my right hand for a week 

 together in consequence of a single gnat-bite. In both cases 

 the bite took place ju^st at the junction of the thumb and the 

 wrist, and in both cases the effect was the same. The hand 

 swelled until it looked like a boxing-glove, was purple in 

 colour where it was not crimson, the fingers could neither be 

 closed nor opened, and the only mode of subduing the fierce 

 heat of the hand was by carrying it in a sling, and having a 

 piece of ice fastened on it over the spot where the Gnat had 

 inserted her beautiful but objectionable beak. I did not fully 

 recover the use of the liand for full three weeks after the bite 

 had been inflicted. 



Such being the effect of a single gnat-bite in England, we 

 may form some idea of the terrors of this little insect in the 

 countries where it is known as the Mosquito, where the venom 

 of its bite is increased tenfold, and its numbers are multiplied 

 by millions. Life is absolutely rendered a burden by these 

 tiny insects, which assume to themselves the mastery of the 

 country in which they live. There are some parts of the world 

 where the Gnat has absolutely driven the human inliabitants 

 from the land into the water. For some reason, not at present 

 a,scertained, the Gnat never lives at any distance from land. It 

 may travel inland for miles from the spot where it was hatched, 

 but it will not willingly travel to any distance over the water. 

 Knowing this peculiarity of constitution, the inhabitants of 

 such spots have taken advantage of it, and made their homes 

 on the bosoms of lakes, supporting them on piles driven into 

 the ground. 



Here we really have no idea of the vast Gnat armies that 

 besiege other lands. Even in parts of Eussia, as we are told by 

 Dr. Clarke from his own experience, no amount of gloves, 

 handkerchiefs, and thick clothing could defend man or woman 



