A most bloodthirsty Insect 161 



line of green drawn suddenly through the air. Though 

 travelling at such speed, he has the power of stopping 

 abruptly, and instantly afterwards returns upon his path. 

 These handsome insects are often placed on mirrors as an 

 ornament in farmhouses. The labourers will have it that 

 they sting like the hornet ; but this they say also of many 

 other harmless creatures, seeming to have a general distrust 

 of the insect kind. They will tell you alarming stories 

 of terrible sufferings — arms swollen to double the natural 

 size, necks inflamed, and so forth — caused by the bites of 

 unknown flies. Not being able to discover what fly it is 

 that inflicts these poisonous wounds, and having spent so 

 many hours in the fields without experiencing such effects, 

 I rather doubt these statements, though put forth in perfect 

 good faith : indeed, I have often seen the arms and chests 

 of the men in harvest time with huge bumps rising on them 

 which they declared were thus caused. The common harvest 

 bug, which gets under the skin, certainly does not cause 

 such great swellings as I have seen; nor the stoat-fly, 

 which latter is the most bloodthirsty wretch imaginable. 



With a low hissing buzz, a long, narrow, and brownish 

 grey insect settles on your hand as you walk among the 

 hay, and presently you feel a tingling sensation, and may 

 watch (if you have the patience to endure the irritation) 

 its body gradually dilate and grow darker in colour as it 

 absorbs the blood. When once thoroughly engaged, 

 nothing will frighten this fly away : you may crush him, 

 but he will not move from fear : he will remain till, replete 

 with blood, he falls off helpless into the grass. 



The horses in the waggons have at this season to be 

 watched by a boy armed with a spray of ash, with which 

 he flicks off the stoats that would otherwise drive the 

 animals frantic. A green spray is a great protection 



M 



