, 1877-08-24
The Mission of the Elv.

more tllan once, what flies were made
for" The following from The Alliance
will help to answer the question:
A respected correspondent, not satisfied
with the chronological opinions of the
scientists, has peered through the lens of
a microscope to learn more of flies. He
has aSCertained that they are lovers of
gum, and that they buzz through the air
in pursuit of that luxury. The gum does
not come ready made to the fly, but is at
first the invisible animalcuH of the air,
which gather to the glutinous wings,
limbs and trunks Of the little insects, and
are worked over into shape for mastica.
ton. The fly is therefore a useful scav-
enger. watch a fly" he continues
"that has been soaring around the room
gathering in these minute insects; wait
until he settles upon lump of sugar
and then see him divest his accumula.
tions with his feet and eat gum, animal
cul9 and sugar with equal gusto.' "'Tis
true" sadly admits the Investigator, "if
you will allow plenty of garbage around,
the flies will gather on it and 'whitte' on
withered cabbage and cheese rinds in
stead of eating gum. Flies force the
slovenly housekeeper to certain degree
OF cleanliness to escape annoyance from
them, for if she keeps her apartments
perfectly clean and sweet then there will
be no animalculg to make gum of, and
no flies to eat, you see. On the contrary,
if her house is untidy and unsavory, the
fly will go through deal door and pair
OF stairs, you see, to get this gum, and he
will use her face or the sugar bowl as a
dish to eat it out Of"
The correspondent enforces his opn-
ion by quotations from the English chem.
ist, Mr.. Emerson, who first discovered
the fact that flies eat gum, and who ci-
phered out the problem by the algebraic
formula of Nos l, 2, 3, 4, and n. Mr.
Emerson saw fly on lump of sugar.
Instead Of "condemning it," he set to
work to find out why "the insects mi
mute trunk or proboscis, which is per-
tectly refraCtile, and which terminates in
two large lobes that are spread out when
the fly begins meal on sugar land gum,
should be passed over its body so fire.
quently while the fly dined; or iu other
words, why the fly should lick itself like
a cat, since its trunk was not made for
licking, but for grasping and sucking"
The chemist fell to thinking. He caught
the fly and put it under the microscope,
and saw the insect was covered with in
sects, Here was something to be looked
into. He caught another fly, with like
result, and in this case found the insect
naf N tpI, oh hn1
ed over into gum. "a glance through
the microscope" says the chemist, "show-
ed that the operation was not one of self
Identification, for wherever the insects
were, thither the trunk went. They were
disappearing into the trunk. The fly was
eating them" The chemist grasped a
paper, waved it frantiCally and myste-
riously through the air, put it under the
lens, and found it thickly covered with
the same kind of vermin that he had
discovered on the flies "Here is some
thing definite" he said. "The puzzle is
solved. Eurekal The fly is scavenger."
Mr.. Emerson made Investigations with
flies taken in filthy and unhealthy places,
and found them fat and saucy, while iu-
sects caught in clean and well-ventiated
apartments, where they could get little
gum, were as lean and lonesome as park
hummer after night in bar-room.
The fly correspondent closes with the
following peroration: "One word for the
mosquito. When the summer sun dries
up the Stagnant marshes, he sends the
gay and festive mosquito to warn you to
close your windows against the miasma
that will bring chills and fevers, and if
you will not listen to his gentle rounde-
lay, he inserts his little bill as gentle
reminder of the doctors bills which may
follow, compared with which it is as
Titania's wand to Goliah's club.