Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-26
WHOLESALE DEALERS In
GNAT-DANCES.

| - 5AeNNAAAA bAAAAA5o III La
| ture, unnoticed by niuety-nine out of a
hundred persons, are the elegantly-easy co
tillon parties of the gnats. True, the actors
do not move on slight fantastic tOeD-they
| are too ethereal for that-but on the wing:
nor are they paired off into couples, for
each seems to act independently Of every
other, yet in concert with the rest; nor is
| the set confined to eight or eighty, or even
eight hundred, but is as numerous some
| times as a swarm of bees; but no one Can
| watch their movements without being con-
| WINGED that they are engaged in amusement,
and that, so far as is possible for gnats, he
| amusement is a dance.
Nor is this amusement confined to anv
one species, but extends through the whole
culec family, from the most invisible sand
fly, the brul0t, or burning fly, of our south
! ern seabOard and of the West Indies-the
most VenOmOUs G. eature, for its size, in ex-
istence-to the gauinipper, or gigantic-belt-
ed mosquito that fortunately for human
comfort, confines himself usually to the
dark swamp or uncultivated wild, and may
be observed practised sometimes by vinegar
gnats, house flies, ichneumOn flies and 9th.
ers.
Their favOrite time for INDUCING this
sport is in the warm season Of the year,
when the sun sends his rays aslant through
the moist air, before the day is wholly ex-
hailed in the morning, or after the evening
damps are preparing to descend. Then a
person with an eye for such things, may
discover them over almost every quarter of
an acre of the worlds surface, sometimes a
dozen parties Of pleasure, of various num-
bers, within the limits of an ordinary gar
den, wheeling jOyously around their several
Centers, as if eager to throw of some of the
eXubeTanCe Of lire.
Looking at them simply as objects in mo-
ton, without seeking to know their species
or their aims, the eye is charmed with an
endless variety of graceful movements. The
actors are so swift that it is impossible to
distinguish their forms, OF to more than
guess at their size. Nothing is discernible
but a MULTI lde Of silver-like streaks which
mark the several tracks, and combine to
form kind Of gauzy tissue in the air.
The tracks are more or less circular and
involved, nc two having the same plane of
revolution, but inclined to each other at
every angle while they all recognize a gen
eral center that is by no means fixed, some
Of the gyratiOns being horizontal, some YER
tical, some Oblique, while many Ofthem are
in direction the reverse of the majority.
Sometimes, as if by universal cOnsent,the
animated globe suddenly expands to many
times is former diameter, making one think
Of an explosion; then, after a few seconds,
or perhaps more than a minute, the mass
contracts to its normal dimensions. Some
times, again, the movers so reduce their
several orbits as to seem almost a compact
mass, while the rapidity of motion cOntin-
ues the same, as is attested by the silver
like streak, and you are puzzled to conceive
how they manage TO move without COlliding;
indeed, you look confidently to see some Of
them flucering with broken wing to the
earth; but they never fall, they never col |
Tide. Their exceeding quickness of motion |
is such that, it is said, they can glide unwet
between the drops of falling rain when |
Overtaken by a shower, and, after the rain |
is over, that they will come together as be- |
fore.
This globe ofjoyous life, as has been in !
-mated, does not continue necessarily in |
any one place. Its center is usually six or |
eight feet above the surface ST the earth, |
though sometimes the globe almost touches |
it, and sometimes it is far up in the air. |
But, whatever may be the selected place, it |
IS kept only by & sort of general rule. The |
mass rises and falls one, two, three, four
feet; it sWays this way and that w"y; it
bursts into countless fragments, which
ly of so far as to be lost to sight; then, after
4 few minutes, they come back, one by one,
% revOlTe around the same center, or
around new one not far distant.
Not Uufrequently some Of them viii dash
AWAY from the main body as if they had
received an atfront, and begin to play around
new center, where they will be gradually |
Oined by others of like spirit, until the |
Whole company has changed its place; or
perhaps, after amusing themselves by
ew independent whirls, the Whole detach-
nent returns to Join the main body.
Approach one of these grating cOmpa-
lies, it will perhaps wait Till your head in
erferes with their motions, or until your !
'reath warns them Of your presence, when
hey will scatter in every direction, then |
Ongregate IN several knots, which soon dis |
over one another and cOalesce.
Wait until the mass has become very |
Ompact, then creep up softly, and sweep !
our halfclOsed palm among them, so as to
aptUre specimen and to discover what it |
}. If the parties to the dance are NOS
uitoes, it will be found that their heads |
re all beautifully plumed with a
air Of feathar-like cOckades. This !
proves that they are males.
is said that female mosquitoes !
ever dance. They leave this time-killing
to the males, who have nothing
Sc to do the lady mosquitoes being too |
Osely occupied with sucking blood (Which
le males never do), and with preserving
leir eggs for the water, where they are to
2 hatched.-F. r. Gouldng IN AppletoH'S
G1ITgUI