American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-09-13
LAMPS THAT FLY.
BY JENNY NJ. BURR.

Not the kerosene lamps that explode
and go scattering in every direction, burn
| ing up houses and people too-not thai
sort at all. The flying lamps l mean are
alive and have wings.
You've seen them many times on damp
summer evenings fitting about ovel
meadows and marshy pastures, and
dare cay you've even caught them as they
settled down upon some bush or tree.
Somebody suggests that they are not
lamps at all, but fireflies. To be sure
| that is the name they are commonly
known by, but the wise men have given
them another-lampyride- comes
| from the same old Latin word as our
word lamp. So I'm not far from right
| after all.
| Very curious and wonderful are these
lamps that form large part of the beetle
for the FREELY is beetle. Many
naturalists have studied hard to find out
what supplies them with material and
keeps them burning. For you must know
that the FREELY is really burning all the
time-though very slowly-and this is
| how it is.
The shining part of this curious little
insect is made up of fat matter, and run
ming all through this are wonderful air
! pipes that carry air to the lamp. Air and
| carbon-which is large part of the fat
| in the lamp-are what make fire. The
oil in our kerosene lamps would never
| burn if the air could not get to it from
the top of the chimney. The fat in the
FREELY is the oil, and the air running
| through the delicate little pipes sets it
burning.
But, as l said, this burning goes on very
slowly-so slowly that the lamp is always
full and always in order.
The most curious part of it is that the
FREELY is never too warm. Wise people
say that there is no heat in the burning
lamp at all, which may be, though it isn't
proved. There isn't enough to burn ones
fingers at least.
I don't know whether the FREELY is vain
of his brilliant light or not, but he hardly
ever comes out in the day time; only at
evening when his beauty appears to best
advantage. Then he and his friends fly
forth, and sometimes fill the air with their
Pickering spfendor.
For you have noticed, perhaps, how the
light dies down and then flashes out again.
This change is said to depend upon the
insects breathing. The more air he gets
the brighter is the light and the hand
somer he is.
There are many kinds of firefiies even
in the United States, but far more in the
tropics-South America and the West
Indies And there some of them are
much larger and handsomer than those
we know Travellers describe them as
very beautiful. When they fill the air and
swarm in the trees it looks as if all the
stars had fallen out of the sky and were
dancing about among the leaves in tiny
sparkles of light.
There is one sort of FREELY more than an
inch long found in the West Indies that is
a splendidly brilliant fellow. When per-
fectly still its color is green, but this
changes to rich red as soon as it begins to
fly. One of these was carried to Paris
once where it escaped and flew into the
streets. You can imagine that the Paris |
boys and girls-men and women too
who had never seen one before, found it a
very wonderful sight.
You will laugh to hear of one use the |
natives in the West Indies make of their |
most beautiful tireflies. They love all |
bright, fancy colors, so they catch these |
shining insects, sew them up in gauZe, |
and wear them on their heads Imagine a |
circle of these living jewels, red, green, |
blue and orange, flashing round swarthy |
Indians face!
But there is better purpose served by
these radiant little insects. The people |
can even read by the light of them. One
lady traveller says she could easily see by
the light of one FREELY of certain kind |
alone. Whether this be true or not, it is
certain that a number of them together is
quite enough for this purpose, and the |
IndlaIS sometimes light up their dwell |
ings with them confined in glass case.
But better than all, they often show the |
the way to travellers lost in the forests and |
mountains of those Southern countries. |
When the path would be utterly dark and |
gloomy without them, they send out their |
brilliant, cheering light, and the traveller
finds his way.
So you see the fireflies are sometimes |
very useful little lamps besides being so |
beautiful in the shadowy twilight |
Hearth and Home.