MOSQUITOS. 361 



and a pair of gloves reaching to the elbow, thickened 

 with whalebone and strong enough to turn a sword 

 cut. Protected in this manner, he sarcastically 

 sketches the insect as Culex pabulator, Culex wlans, 

 Culex repletus, and Culex cogitans. 



When Xansen landed on a desolate part of the 

 Greenland coast, he found swarms of Mosquitos ready 

 to receive him. Darwin asks what Mosquitos find to 

 eat in those regions which are not inhabited by human 

 beings. If Darwin does not know, of whom shall we 

 inquire ? The question is abstruse. What do spiders 

 live on where there are no flies ? lawyers where there 

 are no fools ? priests where there are no dupes ? 

 These investigations lie beyond the scope of Natural 

 History ; they belong to the domain of philosophy. 

 We will therefore dismiss them as too recondite for 

 these humble pages ! 



Malaria is believed to be caused by a parasitic 

 pfotozoon which destroys the red corpuscles of the 

 blood ; and it is said that the Mosquito is the chief 

 agent in spreading this contagion. " Were there no 

 Mosquitos there would be no ague." On the other 

 hand, a naturalist who has studied this insect in the 

 tropics affirms that its main business in the larval 

 stage is to purify polluted water. Mr. Eodway placed 

 some of the immature Mosquitos in a glass of water 

 which was teeming with the most pestilent microbes 

 and bacteria. Before long the water was absolutely 

 pure and wholesome. But before we accept the 

 Mosquito larva as a scavenger, and take his early 

 virtues as a set-off against the sins of his adult 

 stage, we must be quite certain that the disappear- 

 ance of the microbes is not due to the larger 



