62 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



in countries where the winter is much prolonged, 

 and is of extreme severity. Thus, in Lapland we 

 should have probably thought that the rigour of 

 the climate would have been fatal to all insects in 

 winter, in any condition, whether in the egg, or 

 in other forms ; but, as the poor inhabitants know 

 to their cost, it is far different. The mosquitoes 

 swarm in that country in numbers so prodigious 

 that they have been compared to a fall of snow, or 

 to the dust of the earth. The wretched natives 

 cannot take a mouthful of food, or lie down to 

 sleep in their cabins, unless they are fumigated to 

 a degree almost dangerous to life. They fill the 

 mouth and nostrils, and, minute though they are, 

 render existence almost a burden by their blood- 

 thirsty propensities. Not even thick plasters of 

 the most offensive compounds, tar, oil, and grease, 

 are sufficient to shield the Laplander's skin from 

 their attacks. The great John Hunter considered 

 that this power of resisting cold was, in some un- 

 explained manner, connected with the existence of 

 a living principle in the egg, which had the effect 

 of withstanding a degree of cold that would other- 

 wise have been fatal to it ; but, after all, this is 

 only an apology for an explanation. When we 



