idiosyncracy of the mosquito, that it is fond
of babies. If there is a child in the house, it is sure to spot the
playful innocent; and by means of an ingenious contrivance combining the
principles of the gimlet and the air-pump, it soon relieves the little
human bud of its superfluous juices. It is, in fact, a born surgeon, a
Sangrado of the Air, and rivals that celebrated Spanish Leech in its
fondness for phlebotomy. Some infidels, who do not subscribe to the
doctrine that nothing was made in vain, consider it an unmitigated
nuisance, but the devout and thoughtful Christian recognizes it as
Nature's preventive of plethora, and as it alternately breathes a Vein
and a song, it may be said (though we never heard the remark,) to
combine the _utile_ with the _dulce_.

All the members of the genus are slender and graceful in their shape and
Gnatty in their general appearance. The common mosquito is remarkable
for its strong attachments. It follows man with more than canine
fidelity, and in some cases, the dog-like pertinacity of its affection
can only be restrained by Muslin. It is of a roving disposition, seldom
remaining settled long in one locality; and is Epicurean in its
tastes--always living, if possible, on the fat of the land. As the
mosquito produces no honey, mankind in general are not as sweet upon it
as they are upon that bigger hum-bug, the buzzy bee; yet it is so far
akin to the bee, that, wherever it forages, it produces something
closely resembling Hives.

Few varieties of game are hunted more industriously than this, yet such
is the fecundity of the species, that the Sportsman's Club has not as
yet thought it necessary to petition the legislature for its protection.

The New Jersey Mosquito is the largest known specimen of the genus,
except the Southern Gallinipper, which is only a few sizes smaller than
the Virginia Nightingale, and raises large speckles similar to those of
the Thrush. Ornithologists who wish to study the habits of the mosquito
in its undomesticated or nomad state, may find it in angry clouds on the
surface of the New Jersey salt marshes at this season, in company with
its teetering long-billed Congener, the Sandsnipe.

During the last month of summer it reigns supreme in the swamps west of
Hoboken, the August Emperor of all the Rushes, and persons of an
apoplectic turn, who wish to have their surplus blood determined to the
surface instead of to the head, will do well to seek the hygie