The Mosquito.
[Forest and Stream.]
Viewed through the microscope the mosquite presents a picture of mpchamcal ingenuity as. marvellous m execution as it is devilish m design. In the bill alone, which seems so fragile feo the unaided ' sight, there id a combination ot five . distinct surgical instruments, These are, a knifej two meat" saws, and a suction pump," The fifth instrument I have forgotten, but labor under the impre&sion that is a portable Corliss engine to run tlie rest of the factory with. I know that the hum of the mosquitoes m the cotton-wood thickel along the lower Mississippi reminded me constantly of thf hum ot a manu-i facturinff village, and several times I: walked back several times looking for a town before I could convince myself' thai; the buzzing! heard was made by;"mosquitoes with their saws. When the inaeets operate on a man the lan.ee j is first pushed into the flesh, then thej two saws, placed back to back begin to l work up and idown to enlarge the hole,i then the pump is inserted* and victim's blood js syphoned up ,tp the reservoirs carried behind, and finally, to complete the cruelty of the performance, the wretch drops a quantity of poisnn into the wound to keep it irritated.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS18840409.2.28
Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 114, 9 April 1884, Page 4
Word Count
212The Mosquito. Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 114, 9 April 1884, Page 4
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