342 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
1863, 1864 and 1866. In this latter year the parish of Tallulah 
La. lost over 200 head of mules, and upward of 400 mules and 
horses were killed within a few days in the parishes of Madison, 
Tensas, and Concordia, all in the same state. In other states 
they also did great damage. In 1868 many mules were killed 
in the lowlands of Davies county, Ky. Although frequently caus- 
ing more or less trouble and loss, they did not appear again in 
such overwhelming numbers until 1872, 1873, 1874, 1881, 1882, 
1884, 1885 and 1886. In 1872 it was reported that the loss of 
mules and horses in Crittenden county, Ark., exceeded the loss 
from all diseases. In 1873 they caused serious injury in many 
parishes in Louisiana. In 1874 the loss occasioned in one county 
in southwest Tennessee was estimated at $500,000. The gnats 
have been especially injurious since the Mississippi floods of 
1881, and 1882; in the latter year they were more destructive 
to stock than ever before, appearing in immense numbers in 
eastern Kansas, western Tennessee and western Mississippi, and 
the great destruction of cattle, horses and mules caused by them 
added greatly to the distress of the inhabitants of these sections 
of the country caused by unprecedented floods. Many localities 
along the Mississippi river in Arkansas also suffered severely. 
In 1884 buffalo gnats appeared again in great numbers and were 
fully as destructive as in 1882. In Franklin parish, La., within 
a week of their first appearance, they had caused the death of 
300 head of stock. They were equally numerous throughout 
the whole region infested, and for the first time in the his- | 
tory of the pest they attacked horses and mules on the streets 
of the cities of Vicksburg and Memphis. No general outbreak 
took place in 1885, yet gnats appeared in sufficient numbers 
to kill quite a number of mules in various parishes of Lou- 
isiana, especially in Tensas and Franklin. Buffalo gnats ap- 
peared again in immense numbers in 1886, and extended 
throughout the entire lower Mississippi valley, and swarms 
were even observed and doing damage far away from the re- 
gion usually invaded. They came very late in the season, and 
consequently animals were in tetter condition to withstand 
their attacks. The damage was great however in many local- 
ities where planters had not taken steps to protect their stock. 
Besides the actual loss by death to their stock, planters lose 
much valuable time in preparing their fields for the crops. 
It so happens that the gnats appear at a time when the ground 
becomes fit to be prepared for cotton, and, as it is very impor- 
tant to give that plant as much time as possible to mature, 
every day is very valuable in early spring. Planters owning 
large estates have to use their mules for plowing, notwith- 
