DIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 50 



well between ffymenoptera and Diptera, when he says the former have 

 their sting in the tail, and the latter in the mouth; and that to the one 

 this weapon is given as the instrument of vengeance, and to the other of 

 avidity. 1 But the instrument of avidity in the genus of which I am 

 speaking, is even more terrible than that of vengeance in most insects that 

 are armed with it ; like the latter also, as appears from the consequent 

 inflammation and tumour, it instils into its wound a poison ; the principal 

 use of which, however, is to render the blood more fluid, and fitter for 

 suction. This weapon, which is more complex than the sting of hymeno- 

 pterous insects, consisting of five pieces besides the exterior sheath, some 

 of which seem simply lancets, while others are barbed like the spicula of 

 a bee's sting, is at once calculated for piercing the flesh and forming a 

 siphon adapted to imbibe the blood. 2 There are several species of this 

 genus whose bite is severe, but none is to be compared to the common 

 gnat (Culex pipiens L.), if, as has been generally affirmed, it be synonymous 

 with the mosquito (though, in all probability, several species are con- 

 founded under both names) ; and to this, the most insatiable of blood- 

 suckers, I shall principally direct your attention. 3 



In this country they are justly regarded as no trifling evil ; for they 

 follow us to all our haunts, intrude into our most secret retirements, assail 

 us in the city and in the country, in our houses and in our fields, in the 

 sun and in the shade ; nay, they pursue us to our pillows, and either keep 

 us awake by the ceaseless hum of their rapid wings (which, according to 

 the Baron C. de Latour, are vibrated 3000 times per minute 4 ), and their 

 incessant endeavours to fix themselves upon our face, or some uncovered 

 part of our body ; or if in spite of them we fall asleep, awaken us by the acute 

 pain which attends the insertion of their oral stings ; attacking with most 

 avidity the softer sex, and trying their temper by disfiguring their beauty. 

 But although with us they are usually rather teasing than injurious, yet 

 upon some occasions they have approached nearer to the character of a 

 plague, and emulated with success the mosquitos of other climates. Thus, 

 we are told that in the year 1736 they were so numerous, that vast 

 columns of them were seen to rise in the air from Salisbury Cathedral, which 

 at a distance resembled columns of smoke, and occasioned many people to 



that the term Mosquito, signifying a little fly, is applied there to a Simulium Latr. 

 (Simulia Meig.), and that the Culices, which are equally numerous and annoying, are 

 called Zancudoes, which means long legs. The former, he says, are what the French 

 call Moustiques, and the latter Maringouins. (Personal Narrative, E. T. v. 93.) Hum- 

 boldt's remark, however, refers only to South America ; Mr. Westwood informing us 

 that Mosquito is certainly applied to a species of Culex in the United States, the in- 

 habitants giving the name of black-fly to a small Simulium. See " An Introduction 

 to the Modern Classification of Insects, by J. O. Westwood, F.L S." 2 vols. Lond. 

 1839 1841 (ii. 510.), a work invaluable to the entomologist both for its systematic 

 details and vast mass of original and collected facts relative to the affinities, habits, 

 and economy of insects. 



1 Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. xi. c. 28. Aristot. Hist. Animal. 1. i. c. 5. 



2 Pliny was aware of this double office of the proboscis of a gnat, and has well 

 described it. " Telum vero perfodiendo tergori quo spiculavit ingenio ? Atque ut 

 in capaci, cum cerni non possit exilitas, ita reciproca geminavit arte, ut fodiendo 

 acuminatum pariter sorbendoque, fistulosum esset." Hist. Nat. 1. xi. c. 2. 



3 Humboldt has described several South American species. Personal Narrative, 

 V. 97. note *. Engl. Tr. 



4 Westwood, Mod. Clas. of Ins. ii. 509. 



