Note 170 — LETTER IV.
Reading edition
Pliny was aware of this double office of the proboscis of a gnat, and has well described it. "Telum vero perfodiendo tergori quo spiculavit ingenio? Atque ut in capaci, cum cerni non possit exilitas, ita reciproca geminavit arte, ut fodiendo acuminatum pariter sorbendoque fistulosum esset." Hist. Nat. l. xi. c. 2.