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insects could produce a shrill sound ; but he believed imagination often 
made people believe in its similarity to that of the American mosquito. 
They were capable of giving very intolerable pain, as one of his own 
family had experienced a few days since when at Dorking. An insect 
came flying in at his bedroom window, and he identified it as the cause 
of his annoyance. It was the same as the Portsea mosquito, identical 
with our English gnat, and nothing more nor less than the czulex 
pipiens. The insect inserted its six or seven lancets into the flesh and 
pumped out the blood, thus causing the pain and irritation experienced 
from it. Fearing he should not be able to show them the seven lancets 
which each insect was said to possess, he had brought a specimen of 
the gadfly, or éabanus, which also had stinging properties. 
The plumed antennz and the scales of gnats were favourite objects 
with microscopists, these together with English gnats and so-called 
mosquitos from Portsea and Plumstead he would exhibit so that they 
might see they were indentical insects. 
Dr, HALLIFAX mentioned that he had, that very day, been stung 
while writing by a gadfly, and that the puncture produced was for a 
time very painful. The insect which attacked him was of about 
the size of the common house fly, though of the same species as 
that which caused so much trouble to horses and cattle in the meadows. 
In reply to Dr. Hallifax, Mr. WonFoR said that the life history 
of the Indian mosquito and of the English gnat was the same; the 
mosquito being to all intents and purposes a gnat. A case of recent 
mosquito stinging having been mentioned, and the pain having been 
described as severe, Mr. DENNET said it was a singular fact that, if the 
insect had been allowed to drink the blood to repletion, no pain would 
have been felt. Mr. G. D. SAWYER confirmed this statement, remark- 
ing that it seemed to be the driving away of the mosquito that caused 
it to sting. 
Mr. WoNFOR incidentally mentioned that the gnats or mosquitos 
did good, inasmuch as they purified the water in which they might 
be deposited.by eating up garbage and decayed vegetable matter. 
Therefore while they found fault with them, they could not wonder at 
the enormous number of them in such places as Plumstead Marshes, 
the banks of the Mississippi, and the swamps of North America or the 
West Indies. 
