5 ge 24 
DIPTERA. eee x: 
its offensive odor disappears it becomes inoperative. All such applications are of 
no advantage, however, on stock running at large. Gnat oil is very extensively 
used, but it is, like the rest of the remedies, very apt to remove the hair.' In fact, 
all these different kinds of oil and grease are more or less injurious to the animals, 
because a continued coating with them weakens the system. 
The employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company protect themselves and their stock 
against the bites of the ‘‘black fly” by the use of oil of tar, and as long experience 
has shown it to be a simple and easily applied wash, we strongly recommend its use. 
A quantity of coal tar is placed in the bottom of a large shallow receptacle of some 
sort, and a small quantity of oil of tar, or oil of turpentine, or any similar material, 
is stirred in. The receptacle is then filled with water, which is left standing for 
several days until well impregnated with the odor. The animals to be protected are 
then washed with this water as often as seems to be necessary. 
As long as stock in the infested region is suffered to run at large, and is neither 
provided with shelter nor food during the winter months, it will suffer severely from 
the gnats. Animals well cared for can stand the attacks of the gnats far better, and 
do not perish as readily. Illtreated and unhealthy mules and those bruised and cut 
are the first to die, and the prevailing opinion of intelligent planters is to the effect 
that well-cared-for mules, if greased twice a day when working in the field, seldom 
die even when attacked. 
In each infested district it should be made an object of special inves- 
tigation to discover the breeding grounds; to determine the place and 
manner of egg deposition and other points in the life history since it is 
probably from this direction that we must expect to discover some plan 
by which to destroy the pests in the immature stages and thereby pre- 
vent the appearance of the vast swarms of flies which produce such 
Serious consequences. 
REMEDIES FOR THE BITES. 
A number of remedies to counteract the poison of the buffalo-gnats 
have been tried, but none of them have been sufficiently tested or have 
proven uniformly effective. The following applications have been of 
sufficient use to merit further trial: (1) Rubbing with water of ammonia, 
and administering internally a mixture of 40 to 50 grains of carbonate 
of ammonia to | pint of whisky, repeating the dose every three or four 
hours until relieved; (2) continued doses of whisky alone and keeping 
the animal in a cool and darkened stable; (3) immersion in cold water 
of running streams. 
Many cases of death of human beings from the bites of buffalo-gnats 
have been reported and some of them seem well authenticated. The 
painfulness of their attacks will certainly put people on their guard, 
_ but it would be well for persons in localities subject to invasion to go 
‘According to Messrs. Fahlen & Kleinschmidt, chemists, of Memphis, Tenn., 
“‘enat oil is any kind of stinking oil; it should not contain drying oils, such as 
Oleum lint and O. gossypii.” They use fish oil, and to increase its perfume add Ol. 
animale fotidum, 4 ounces to 10 gallons. But since fish o1] costs 50 to 75 cents per 
gallon, some mix it with erude petroleum; this addition, however, has the tendency 
to kill the hair roots. Ol. hedeomw (pennyroyal) is too costly, and therefore not 
frequently used. Fish vil and Ol. animale fatidum have given the best satisfaction. 
