﻿36 
  

  

  " 
  To 
  two 
  points 
  in 
  this 
  extract 
  I 
  beg 
  to 
  call 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  the 
  Entomological 
  

   Society. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  first 
  is, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  desirableness 
  of 
  ascertaining 
  what 
  is 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  fly 
  which 
  

   causes 
  the 
  ' 
  fly-blight.' 
  Col. 
  Moody 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  in 
  error 
  in 
  supposing 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  

   'common 
  fly,' 
  if 
  by 
  this 
  terra 
  he 
  means 
  our 
  house-fly, 
  (Musca 
  dornestica) 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  

   service 
  would 
  be 
  rendered 
  to 
  the 
  science, 
  if 
  any 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Society 
  who 
  may 
  have 
  

   friends 
  in 
  those 
  parts 
  of 
  Australia 
  where 
  the 
  fly-blight 
  prevails, 
  would 
  request 
  them 
  to 
  

   send 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  that 
  causes 
  the 
  disease, 
  which 
  might 
  be 
  done 
  

   with 
  small 
  trouble, 
  by 
  killing 
  them 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  slight 
  pressure, 
  and 
  gumming 
  them 
  

   on 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  paper 
  inclosed 
  in 
  a 
  letter. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  second 
  point 
  is 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  remarkabe 
  confirmation 
  which 
  the 
  ingenious 
  and 
  

   valuable 
  invention 
  by 
  the 
  Misses 
  Icely 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Fitzroy-Paramouche' 
  aff"ords 
  of 
  the 
  

   efficacy 
  of 
  the 
  Italian 
  plan 
  of 
  excluding 
  flies 
  from 
  rooms 
  by 
  nets 
  with 
  wide 
  meshes, 
  

   which 
  I 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  our 
  Society 
  eighteen 
  years 
  ago 
  (Trans. 
  Ent. 
  Soc. 
  i. 
  1), 
  

   and 
  which 
  the 
  late 
  lamented 
  Bishop 
  of 
  Norwich 
  found 
  so 
  eff'ectual 
  (Id. 
  ii. 
  55), 
  when 
  

   extended 
  to 
  protecting 
  the 
  face 
  from 
  them, 
  merely 
  by 
  suspending 
  a 
  net 
  from 
  the 
  hat; 
  

   and 
  also 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  probability 
  which 
  thence 
  arises, 
  that 
  a 
  similar 
  contrivance 
  might 
  

   keep 
  off 
  gnats 
  (Culices) 
  from 
  the 
  faces 
  of 
  travellers 
  in 
  districts 
  much 
  exposed 
  to 
  them. 
  

   This 
  struck 
  me 
  long 
  since, 
  after 
  my 
  son, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  B. 
  Spence, 
  had 
  pointed 
  out 
  (Trans. 
  

   Ent. 
  Soc. 
  i. 
  7), 
  that 
  Herodotus 
  had 
  noticed 
  the 
  use 
  made, 
  upwards 
  of 
  two 
  thousand 
  

   years 
  ago, 
  by 
  the 
  Egyptian 
  fishermen 
  of 
  their 
  fishing-nets, 
  to 
  screen 
  themselves 
  irom 
  

   the 
  attacks 
  of 
  gnats; 
  and 
  I 
  suggested 
  to 
  Sir 
  John 
  Franklin, 
  whose 
  probable 
  fate 
  now 
  

   excites 
  such 
  intense 
  interest 
  throughout 
  the 
  civilized 
  world, 
  whether 
  nets 
  tied 
  round 
  

   the 
  hat 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  hang 
  over 
  the 
  brim, 
  might 
  not 
  exclude 
  gnats, 
  which, 
  in 
  high 
  latitudes, 
  

   are 
  often 
  so 
  great 
  a 
  pest 
  in 
  their 
  hot 
  though 
  short 
  summers. 
  Until 
  the 
  experiment 
  

   had 
  been 
  made, 
  it 
  did 
  not 
  follow 
  that 
  although 
  flies 
  and 
  gnats 
  could 
  be 
  excluded 
  by 
  

   wide-meshed 
  nets 
  from 
  rooms, 
  they 
  could 
  be 
  equally 
  excluded 
  by 
  similar 
  nets 
  hanging 
  

   down 
  loosely 
  from 
  a 
  hat, 
  and 
  not 
  tied 
  round 
  the 
  neck 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  remarkable 
  fact 
  men- 
  

   tioned 
  by 
  Col. 
  Moody, 
  that 
  'though 
  the 
  meshes 
  [of 
  the 
  Misses 
  Icely 
  's 
  nets] 
  were 
  large, 
  

   not 
  to 
  exclude 
  the 
  air, 
  the 
  flies 
  ventured 
  not 
  within,' 
  seems 
  to 
  render 
  it 
  highly 
  proba- 
  

   ble 
  that 
  gnats 
  might 
  be 
  excluded 
  in 
  this 
  way, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  flies 
  which 
  cause 
  the 
  Aus- 
  

   tralian 
  fly-blight; 
  and 
  I 
  would 
  strongly 
  advise 
  travellers 
  in 
  districts 
  greatly 
  infested 
  

   with 
  gnats, 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  experiment. 
  While 
  within 
  doors, 
  the 
  Chinese 
  fumigating 
  

   sticks 
  (composed 
  of 
  thesawings 
  of 
  resinous 
  woods, 
  probably 
  juniper, 
  mixed 
  with 
  some 
  

   inflammable 
  material), 
  which 
  Mr. 
  Fortune 
  found 
  so 
  effectual 
  in 
  driving 
  away 
  gnats 
  

   (Proceed, 
  xiv.), 
  or 
  a 
  similar 
  preparation, 
  would 
  bethebest 
  defence, 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  obviously 
  

   inapplicable 
  while 
  walking, 
  when 
  the 
  'pararaouche,' 
  if 
  found 
  as 
  effectual 
  against 
  gnats 
  

   as 
  flies, 
  would 
  be 
  invaluable." 
  

  

  The 
  President 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  fowl-pen 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  net, 
  the 
  meshes 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  

   H 
  inch 
  wide, 
  the 
  flies 
  never 
  went 
  through, 
  and 
  the 
  poultry 
  could 
  never 
  catch 
  them, 
  

   although 
  they 
  made 
  many 
  attempts 
  to 
  reach 
  them 
  sitting 
  on 
  the 
  outside. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Edward 
  Sheppard 
  wished 
  to 
  make 
  known 
  to 
  members 
  visiting^he 
  Lake 
  district, 
  

   that 
  William 
  Greenip, 
  of 
  Keswick, 
  would 
  be 
  found 
  a 
  very 
  civil 
  anci 
  attentive 
  guide, 
  

   and 
  that 
  he 
  possessed 
  a 
  considerable 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  of 
  the 
  locality. 
  

  

  