CH. XI. | THE GNAT. 193 



of which its own body forms mast and sail. The 

 skin floats, and when the observer perceives, says 

 Reaumur, how much the prow of the little bark 

 sinks, and how near its sides are to the water, he 

 forgets at the moment that the gnat is an insect 

 which at another time he would kill ; nay, he be- 

 comes anxious for its fate, and the more so if the 

 slightest breeze play on the surface of the water : 

 the least agitation of the air suffices to waft the 

 creature with swiftness from place to place, and 

 make it spin round and round. Its body, folded in 

 its wings, bears a greater proportion to the little 

 skiff, than the largest mass of sail to a ship: it is 

 impossible not to dread lest the insect should be 

 wrecked ; once laid on its side on the water, there 

 is no escape. Reaumur has seen the surface of the 

 water covered with creatures of this kind which had 

 thus perished at their birth. Generally, however, 

 all terminates favourably, and the danger is over in, 

 a minute. After having stood perpendicularly, it 

 draws out its two fore-legs, and bending to the 

 water, places them on its surface, which is terra 

 firma for a gnat's weight ; having secured this posi- 

 tion, all is safe ; the wings dry and expand, and the 

 insect, quitting its natal element, mounts into the air. 

 It is supposed, that from the end of May to that 

 of October, six or seven generations of these insects 

 are born, and each gnat is capable of laying two 

 hundred and fifty eggs. These are found agglu- 

 tinated into a mass, and swimming about on the 

 surface of water : they are individually olive-shaped, 

 the large end being in the water, the rest in the air. 



