36 NATURK vSTUDY. 
erly, and which bring into nse a mid-sense—a sense between hear¬ 
ing and feeling. 
“ I continued 1113^ walk. Bees were bns}^ on the thistle flowers, 
hover flies and others were flashing here and there, large bumbles 
would swing into sight and sway off again in long, heavy curves, 
but the m3^sterious humming continued through all. Now it 
seemed to come from the ground ! At the top I lay down to enjoy 
the view and get a rest, as the sun was beating down fiercely and 
it w IS ve;'3" close. I laid my ear against tlie earth out of curiosity. 
It certainly was not coming from there. I felt disgusted, and ly¬ 
ing back gazed vacantl}^ into the bine. At once I saw the cause of 
it all. Right aljove me almut three or four feet from the ground a 
line of tiny black gnats were playing in a long vertical line. As I 
rose up the}’ rose also and followed me wherever I went, keeping 
the same vertical line and the same distance, viz., a little behind 
the back of the head and about a foot or more above it, a most dif¬ 
ficult position for discovering them, and also a position where their 
sound would not Im well located by the ear. I sprang into the air 
tr}dng to upset their line and disperse them, but they persevering- 
1 }^ reformed and continued pla}’ing. At the bottom of the fields I 
had to pass through a wood, here the}' vanished, the sound gradii- 
ally dying awa}^ It was quite a relief. I believe I am right in 
Saying gnats and their allies play in short, vertical lines, while 
alder-flies, etc., play in long, horizontal lines. The former 
play by dropping straight and returning to the same point again in 
zigzags to dodge those on their way down. The latter, generally 
playing over pools, do the same, only horizontally. I believe this 
will explain Mr. Gibbons’ note.” 
Sounds in Nature. 
The atmo.sphere is the grand niediuin by which sound 
is conveyed, though recent discoveries prove that other 
bodies conduct it with greater expedition, as in the in¬ 
stance of vibrating a tuning-fork, to the stein of which is 
attached a packthread string; on the other end being 
wrapt round the little finger, and placed in the chamber of 
the ear, the sound will be audibly conveyed to the dis¬ 
tance of two hundred yards, though not perceptible to any 
