FISH, REPTILES, AND INSECTS OF LAPLAND. 169 



is the mosquito, and it is a pity that this is not 

 worth collecting, or a man might make his fortune 

 in a week. I had heard such fearful accounts 

 of the swarms of mosquitoes which we should 

 encounter up here, and so many different remedies 

 as preventives against their bites were recom- 

 mended to me, that I really began to fancy in the 

 summer we should not be able to get on at all. 

 Some recommended smearing the face with train 

 oil and tar, but as it seems that if any of this 

 mixture happens to get into your eyes or nose 

 you stand a very good chance of being blinded or 

 suffocated, I was inclined to think that the remedy 

 would be worse than the disease. One botanist 

 assured me that it was quite impossible to collect 

 flowers in Lapland during July, because you can't 

 well collect in gloves (I should fancy not), and it 

 was impossible to have the hands bare on account 

 of these plagues. But he was a very fine gentle- 

 man, and when I looked at his delicate lady-like 

 hands I thought it very probable that the mosqui- 

 toes would prefer his blood to that of a smoke- 

 dried Lap. One recommended great green specs ; 

 another a green veil, such as " gents" wear on the 

 Derby day. I wonder no one recommended a 

 patent respirator. Mr. Buckland, in a letter to 

 the Field of Aug. 29, 1863, recommends spirits 

 of turpentine as an infallible remedy against the 



