MOSQUITO CURTAINS 299 



on one's clothing. At the time of year in which 

 hunting is pursued the nights are intensely cold, 

 and the contact of a bare foot with the chilly 

 waterproof ground sheet is by no means pleasant. 

 The mosquito curtain, of which two should 

 be pro^aded, is most efficient when made of the 

 finest green net, and none but those of the 

 smallest mesh should on any account be selected. 

 There are many small insect pests in addition 

 to mosquitoes against which it is necessary to 

 guard, and among the worst of these is a tiny 

 so-called sand-fly which seems to be endowed 

 with a specially unpleasing power of penetrating 

 mosquito curtains. If, however, by any lament- 

 able oversight the net selected should not prove 

 impervious to this pest, his attentions may often 

 be checkmated by using the two nets together, 

 one over the other. But in the provision of these 

 necessary adjuncts to comfort, care should be 

 taken as to the method of weighting them. The 

 most efficient nets are those of which about ten 

 or twelve inches repose upon the floor aU round. 

 At the bottom there should be a piping about 

 the thickness of a black-lead pencil, but divided 

 into small chambers 2 inches long and about 

 6 apart, and these should be filled with shot in 

 such a manner that the netting lies evenly upon 

 the ground sheet, and no portion of it is raised 

 in the smallest degree above its surface. If the 

 shot are not thus divided into compact little 

 chambers, it speedily displays a tendency to run 

 together, with the result that while the curtain 

 round the foot of the bed may be properly 



