94 The Pond-Meadow. 



toes on the meadows throughout the summer, still they 

 come more particularly at certain seasons, and when these 

 times are known, one's excursions may be planned so as not 

 to meet with them at the periods of greatest abundance. 

 In ordinary years, there are usually a few at the end of 

 May, a considerable visitation during the first days of July, 

 and again about the same time in August and September. 

 After the first of August, or at most the first few days in 

 the month, the mosquitoes become fairly numerous at all 

 times on the meadows, and for forty or fifty days it is well 

 to go armed with a branch of sweet gum or bay berry, that 

 may be switched about the head. The periods of greatest 

 abundance are about thirty days apart, the first and the 

 last being somewhat more, owing to the cooler weather. 

 Occasionally this order of appearance will be changed 

 slightly, as after the exceptionally warm winter of 1889-90, 

 when the swarm ordinarily coming in July, appeared in the 

 latter part of June. 



Staten Island has been denominated "a mosquito- 

 infested Isle," and its natives are said to develop coriaceous 

 skins, only the fittest surviving However, the population 

 has increased ; the leathery skinned native often lives to be 

 very old and waxes stout if he gets enough to eat, and 

 talks back most energetically at all who have aught to say 

 against his home. It is true he has memories of mosqui- 

 toes, such as the visitation of July 3, 1863, when the 

 vegetables were left unpicked in the gardens for a week 

 and people wore mosquito net over their hats. 



At the time of this plague two men were going to the 

 ferry landing; one of them with a net over his hat, the 



