INSECT A. 193 



nostrils of sheep, goats, and deer, and as the larvae devel- 

 ope, cause great torment to those animals. 



The Common Gnat (culex pipiens) is four lines long, 

 gray and annulate ; wings without spots ; have a long, 

 membraneous, perpendicular proboscis, or sucker, con- 

 sisting of five filaments which produce the effects of a 

 sting. These insects develope in stagnant waters, make 

 a buzzing noise as they fly, and prove the torment of 

 man and beast. There are several relative species, well 

 known in southern climates as Musquiioes, which are 

 considered intolerable plagues. 



The Columbat or Servian Fly (simulium reptans) is 

 one line and a half long, with dark-brown eyes, blackish 

 body, yellow-white below ; the long legs black, ringed 

 with white; wings transparent, and longer than the 

 body. The trunk, provided with bristle-like lancets, is 

 short. These insects are peculiar to Servia, within a 

 circuit of eight or ten miles on the Danube, and at inter- 

 vals appear in such fearful multitudes, as to occasion 

 great alarm to herdsmen, as they have been known to 

 destroy whole herds of cattle. The best protection 

 against their stings is to anoint the bodies of the animals 

 with salve made of tobacco or petroleum, or smoke them 

 off by burning the leaves or stems of tobacco in their 

 vicinity. 



The Common House Fly (musca domestica), spread 

 all over the world, is too well known to merit a long 

 description ; the eyes, of a brownish -red color, are re- 

 markable, as consisting of more than four thousand facets 

 or small eyes. The impudence of flies, intruding their 

 unwelcome visits everywhere, has become a proverb ; 

 their increase is also incredibly great, although fourteen 

 days are requisite for their perfect development. They 

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