MUSQUITO. 19 



tiplication is permitted by the Creator : but in the one case, 

 as uell as in the other, we must certainly acknowledge the 

 working of an all-wise Providence, which sees and under- 

 stands what man cannot comprehend. 



I am aware that Dr. Hale and Bryant have given calcu- 

 lations, whereby it would appear that this succession of 

 plagues took place between the month of January and the 

 beginning of April, and consequently the plague of flies, &c. 

 must have been miraculous, occm-ring at a season when the 

 Nile was at its lowest, and when flies, &c. were not naturally 

 abundant; but there seems nothing fully to warrant the 

 adoption of a fixed period of time between the early plagues. 



I have said that the musquito is a species of gnat {Cu- 

 licidce), nearly allied to our common English species, C pi- 

 piens. In making this statement I have followed the best 

 authorities. Mr. Kirby says, that the musquito from Bata- 

 via, whose bite is exceedingly venomous, occasioning a most 

 intolerable itching, which lasts several days, is distinct from 

 the common gnat, and approaches C annulata, but the 

 wngs are black, and not spotted. Robineau Desvoidy and 

 M. Percheron have described and figured the insect under 

 the name of Culex musquito; and Pohl and Kollar have de- 

 scribed the Brazilian musquito, as it is termed by the Portu- 

 guese, under the name of Culex molestus. 



There is also another little insect, Avhich in the autumn is 

 very annoying to persons who walk about the fields, and 

 which is so minute that it escapes observation. It is called 

 the harvest-bug, but is in reality one of the Acaridcs, of a 

 red colour, its mode of attack being to insinuate itself into 

 the flesh of the legs, where it causes an intolerable itching, 

 and raises the most irritating sores. An analogous species 

 inhabits the West Indies, where surgical operations are 

 required to dislodge it, causing, if neglected, abscesses, gan- 

 grene, and even death. The name of Scholechiasis has been 



