540 THE GNAT. 



wrapped up in this fpiral manner, they become gnats, and 

 afcend into a new element. No fooner does the chrjfalis 

 reach the furface of the water, than the infe£l with its 

 head burfts the (hell, which then ferves it for a boat, of 

 which the wings are the fails. If in this critical moment 

 a breeze arife, it proves to thcfe pigmy failors a dreadful 

 hurricane ; for it overfets the little bark, and the infedt 

 not being yet difengaged from it, fuffers a fatal fliipwreck. 

 If, however, the weather prove calm, the gnat makes a 

 more profperous voyage : Having time to dry his wings 

 before leaving the boat> he is enabled to mount into the 

 air; where, contemptible as he may feem, he foon be- 

 comes the inveterate tormentor of the lords of the crea- 



tion 



» 



Ciil^x cinereiis f . This fpecics is the moft numerous 

 and common j it is called by the Swedes Mygg J, a name 

 it has alfo received in fome parts of Britain. The body 

 is of an oblong fliape, and the colour is cinereous. It is 

 this fpecies which, towards evening, is fo troublefome tq 

 man and other animals. Its efforts are far more feeble 

 and temporary than thofe of the mufquito in North Ame- 

 rica, where the inhabitants are obliged to have their beds 

 clofe hung with a thin cloth, called Mufquito Curtains, 

 to prevent their intrulion. 



* Reaumur, Tome IV. f Fauna Swecica. 



t Vick Flora Lapponica, p. 363, 5c Elankncr, p. 17?. 



