482 OTllKH 15L(H)1)-SUCKIXG FLIES 



of lil.ickdios as he cncoimttM-cd tliciii in ( 'aiuuhi. From ac- 

 counts of otluM' authors th(\v must be equall}^ terrible in other 

 places. King, for instance, states that in parts of Sudan (Don- 

 gola) a species known as the nimetti. Slninlium griseicoUis, 

 renders life a burden during the winter months. The famous 

 Columbacz fly, S. colunibaczensc, of southern Europe is said to 

 be a terril)le pest, and there are instances of children having been 

 killed by it. My own experiences occuiicd in the woods of 

 Xortiuiii (hitai'io early in ,Iunc. I'pon arri\'ing there I did not 

 recognize Di-. Munford of Coiiicll rni\-ersity, with wliom i 

 had been ([uite intimate, until he spoke. He had been in the 

 region about a fortnight. His face, neck and arms were so swol- 

 len from l)lackfly bites as to completely alter his appearance. 

 The wrists were swollen until no constriction between hand and 

 forearm was present. That evening, having been told of the 

 manner in which deer came and stood in the water near the 

 outlet of the lake, a mile or so from camp, I went in a canoe to 

 watch them, being warned to tie my trouser legs tightly around 

 my shoes and my coat sleeves to my gloves, and to fit a veil 

 stretched from a broad-brimmed hat tightly around my neck. 

 Xo repellents were at hand. With some impatience (having been 

 bred among the mosquitoes of New Jersey) I submitted to these 

 precautions, though I was careless in carrying them out, anil 

 made the trip to the outlet which is an old log chute, and the 

 breeding place of the flies. In spite of the precautions taken, 

 the blackflies, alighting on the veil in such numbers as to make 

 it difficult to see through it, managed to find vulnerable spots 

 in my armor. Unlike mosquitoes they alight and crawl; they 

 found their way up under the veil, between the buttons of shirt 

 and trousers, and through the cords at my wrists. In a f(>w 

 minutes I was (li-i\-en almost frantic and cduld hardl\- n-^train 

 ni>'self from diving into the lak(> to a\i)id tiie attacking Hies, as 

 did the deer. Each bite, and Ix-foi'e I got to the safe haven of a 

 dense smudge at camp 1 had huinh'cils of them, was only .slightly 

 I)ainful; the (lies drilled a tiny hole which bled a iliop oi' two, so 

 that the attacke(l parts of the body became c()m])letel\- sineaicd 

 with blood, liut this was not the end. The bites next morning 

 were swollen, and itched somewhat; the swc'Uing and irritation 

 grew ('onstan11\" wor.se until the third night, when e:ich bite 

 became the site of an oozing pinipli'. \W this time the itching 



