The National tribune., 1885-06-18

soldiers the remembrance of those mig ghts is
like a hidcous dream. The boys frequently
sat up good part of the night, their pup"
tents tightly buttoned. and smudge Of weeds
and grass within. In addition to this every
man had his pipe filed with "navy plug" or
"niggerhead," and the vifer the tobacco the
more effective was the smoke upon the mos
ketos. Through this fearful smudge the strgg-
Cling candle, in the socket of a bayonet scarcely
gave light enough to enable the boys to see
whether they held three of a kind, a bobtail
flush" or only poor little pair of deuces If
"old sledge" was the game, the dealer could
"turn jack" from the bottom of the deck
without fear of detection.
The writer one afternoon rode horse from
the camp of the Third Brigade, Second Divis-
ior. over the open prairie to Victoria, distance
c. about 10 miles. Before starting he took the
precaution to cover his hands with gauntlets,
tying them closely around the wrists, and to
wind cloths around his bead until he looked
like mummy. By the time he reached Vic
toria he, and portions of bis horse, were COM
pleteIy covered with masses of mOsketos cling
ing to each other and hanging in festoons from
every point He AYERS, with the full knowledge
of the fate of Ananias for telling a lie, that he
could have scraped Off six quarts of them from
his person and the beast he rode. Such a raw
enous multitude Of skeeters" he has never
seen, before nor since.
Nature does not make mosketo all at once.
1t isn't anything to brag of to make him at all
He is the result Of a gradual process of deyel-
Opment-Or evolution, as the learned men say.
The female lays her eggs ON the water. 1t
would be good thing if they would all drown,
but they dent. From the eggs are Matched the
little "wrigglers' that grow and flop around
in the water for a few days, when they change
to wholly different form. They are then
called pap6-whatever that means. For three
or four days they lie around with their hump
ed backs at the surface of the water, contriving
to swim little by quick jerks of the tail like
shrimp lobster. Then they stretch them
selves out and burst and the mosketos come
forth, with sharpened beaks and wings tuned to
melody.
Prof Riley, the Entomologist of the Bureau
Of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institute,
says it is
ONLY THE FEMALE MosKETo
that bites, and that the same is true of all that
tribe of insects. This statement is probably
true, as Prof. Riley is paid for finding out and
knowing all such things; but it is a little
rough on the gentle sex. If it is not true, the
Professor should be sued for slander. Tradition
fixes upon the original woman in the Garden
of Eden the responsibility for all our woes, and
the mosketos are keeping up the reputation of
her sex. The male sings and buzzes around,
but never bites anybody. In accepting the
correctness of this theory, however, we are
forced to believe that Mormonism prevails
rience each of the males must have very large
number Of wives who are always hungry. The
long black mark which we are unwillingly
compelled to make against the sex is rendered
still longer and biacker by the fact that she
not only does all the biting but produces all
the eggs to keep up the supply of wrigglers,
which in the fullness of time are developed into
a new generation Of nlosketos. These scientific
facts gi We rise to saddening thoughts, in view
of our regard for the other sex of cur own race,
but We will indulge the hope that they are not
chargeable with the depravity of their repre-
sentatiyes in the insect kingdom.
If our readers need any further testimony as
to the character and abilities of this insect, the
following extract from the writings of Prof
Riley will show that the mosketo is "no
slouch":
Those who have travelled in Summer on the
Lower Mississippi or in the Northwest have ex-
perienced the torments which these frail flies
inf1iet; at times they drive every one from the
boat, and trains can sometimes only be run
with comfort Oh the Northern Pacific by keep
ing smudge in the baggage car, and the doors
of all the coaches open to the fumes. The
bravest man the feetest horse dares not
cross some of the more rank and dank prairies
of Northern Minnesota in June. 1t is we'll
known that Father De Smet once nearly died
from mosketo bites, his flesh being SO swollen
around the arms and legs that it literally burst.
MosketOs have caused the rout of armies and
the deSertion of cities"
The gIat is simply an abridged edition of
the n1osketo. The latter is his elder brother
or sister. The two are almost Identical, ex-
cept rs to size and it is the female gnat that
makes all the mischief She does the best she
can to equal the mosketo, and our experience
shows that she comes as near to it as could posi-
bly, be expected of her. If her bill isn't quite
so long, she can't help it.