60 MORE MINOR HORRORS 



day. We kept our tame mosquitos in a 

 huge gauze tent, and at night they invariably 

 accumulated on the side which was illuminated 

 by a lamp. Such mosquitos as were kept 

 in a glass lamp-chimney, closed with gauze 

 at each end, invariably flew towards the end 

 which was held towards the light. People 

 who are experienced with mosquitos some- 

 times keep the room in which they are sleeping 

 dark and place a light in an adjoining room, 

 leaving the door ajar, and thus lure them away. 

 It seems a curious thing that, while these 

 insects are repelled by the diffused light of 

 the sun, they are attracted by the more 

 concentrated light of a lamp or candle, but 

 such is the psychology of Anopheles. 



It is not perhaps solely the influence of 

 light ; it may be the influence of colour ; 

 for light is very rarely entirely colourless. 

 In the many experiments carried on in Cam- 

 bridge on the natural history of the mosquito, 

 A. maculipennis, not the least interesting 

 were those directed to ascertaining the insect's 

 preference for colour. It had been noticed 

 by many observers that they frequented dark- 

 coloured areas rather than light : for instance, 

 note how few mosquitos there are on the 

 white collar of the gentleman in the Frontis- 

 piece compared with the number on his dark 

 head and coat. Austen had pointed out that 



