The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1878-09-14
A STARVED FLY's ANTICS
Hartford Courant-l

The statistical gentleman, of whose ex-
ploits among the bugs and creeping
things OF Hartford, mention has several
times been made, has recently been made
has recently attempted an experiment
with fly OF the house-tOrturipg kind
one of the little creatures that rise with
the early worms and early bird and
buckle on their fixtures for the exposed
face or bare leg which may be lying
around loose on hot morning in bed
of down or shingle nails. His theory
was that the fly was composed chiefly
OF one internal Cruel funnel connecting
with the legs, and that all food passed
through the legs and was carried back
again into the mouth, and hence on and
80 on in sort of perpetual motion; and
that in reality fly bite was no bite, but
tickle, an aggravated tickle of the hu-
man cuticle. In order to make prac-
tical test, he secured healthy appearing
fly that had been diminishing around a
well-regulated family for four weeks, aud
placed it under a glass case. where, up
to yesterday, it had been four weeks
without food or water He has kept a
daily diary of the insects condition, but
space will not allow liberal extracts.
There was for several days an incessant
communication between the fy's legs
and the suction valve Of the mouth, the
motions at times being 80 rapid that it
W - difficult to tell which was valve and
which Was leg By the aid OF the micro
scop- 1t was then discovered that two
gs had nearly disappeared. and that
the valve was wearing off rapidly on the
stArboard side. Further close examina-
ton disclosed the fact that this con-
sumption process was steadily going on.
At last all the legs disappeared and also
the valve. and then there began to be a
d munition of the trunk of the insect,
which was still of life and motion, going
through the same Stimulating activities
as II the legs were in place and all othe,
machinery was perfect. Indeed, the
scientific gentleman believes that the fly
to the last moment of consciousness re.
lied upon his legs and supposed they
were all right. The next striking obser
vation was the gradual disappearance Of
the body and one wing, and on Monday
of this week nothing was left OF the fly
but small fraction of the remaining
wing, which, strange to say, was ener
gized itself with an apparent instinc
which seemed to tell 1t that the whole fly
was with it. At 8 O'Clock last evening
there was nothing loft but what appeared
to be fy-speok, and yet that speck re-
peatedly tried to stand on end and bal
ance itself. Probably by to-day. there
will be nothing left, but the scientific
observer thinks that when he raises th,
glass be will be able to discover some pc
culiar conditions of things indicating
that, though there is nothing there, ther
are elements denoting the existence o
something, so great is his confidence il
the everlasting hereafter of the fly. TIL
experiment. showing as it does the in
stinctive ACTIVITY Of the fly by nature AM
habit, makes the occasion for surpris
over the persistent attacks of the insect
when left to itself in the freedom of al
things, less important than many un
scientific people have supposed.