3 ; 
sulphur and water, and in a few days the fowl dies of “chicken 
cholera."* 
Riley gives a very different account of the effect of these gnats 
on poultry in Louisiana, showing that the local conditions in Vir¬ 
ginia were peculiar. “Setting turkeys and hens,'’ he says, “are 
frequently forced by the gnats to leave their nests. Young fowl 
are killed outright. The gnats, in attacking fowls of all kinds, 
force their way under the wings of their victims, where they can 
not be dislodged.” 
A similar suspicion of the conveyance of disease may be based 
upon Riley’s statement with respect to swine, which, he says, show 
the effects of the bite but very little at first, large numbers dying, 
however, soon after the attack, while others die about six weeks 
after the disappearance of the buffalo-gnats, perishing usually 
from large ulcerated sores which cause blood poisoning. 
Comparing the smaller turkey-gnats with the southern buffalo- 
gnat, pecuarum, he says that they are not so bloodthirsty, nor do 
they form such large swarms. “The snorting, biting, switching 
of tails, and the general restlessness of the stock in the fields soon 
reveal the presence of their foes. The gnats will, upon arrival, 
rapidly circle around the animal, select a point of attack, fasten 
themselves upon the chosen spot, and immediately commence to 
bite. The genital and anal regions, the ears and portions of body 
between the forelegs—in short, those parts where the skin is most 
easily punctured—are selected by these insects. The attack is so 
rapid, that in course of one minute the body of the tormentor is 
seen to expand with' blood, which shows plainly through the epider¬ 
mis of the abdomen. The bitten part of the animal shows a nipple¬ 
like projection, and if the insect is removed by force a drop of 
blood as large as a good-sized pin’s head will ooze out. Other 
gnats will almost at once pounce upon the same spot and continue 
the biting. All those veins which project under the skin of the 
animal are also favorable points of attack, and their course is made 
visible by the hordes of gnats fastened upon them. 
“The great danger of an attack by these insects lies in the un¬ 
expectedness of their appearance. As already mentioned there 
may be no indication of their presence in any neighborhod and the 
roads are free of them. But with the change of the prevailing 
wind they may appear, and when one is passing certain localities, 
such as low, wet, and shady ground, or dense thickets of under¬ 
brush, they will start forth like a cloud, and cover the animals at 
once. Open fields may be entirely free from gnats, but if animals 
*Insect Life, Vol. I, p. 14. 
