Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-12-14
TRUTHS ABOUT THE FLY
What is known About His Wonderful
Organism.
How He CFaWis and Walks - How
Liquids are DeyOured-His Hear,
ing and Seeing Apparatus.
"Blby bye, here's a III.
Let Us watch, yOu aud l"


dOmestica.
To follow the posts train of though
"How he crawis, rp the walls, yes he never
falls"
The former theory thet this is accom-
plished by suction as q brick can be
raised from the ground By piece OF we
leather, is exploded. AID we are nov
told, on French authority, that it is due
to the presence OF the many minute hair:
on the feet, from ten TO twelve Thousand
in all, each terminating in bulb, which
by exuding an oily liquid adheres TO sur
faces by capillary attraction. Whom tht
fy tries to walk up & wet surface the
moisture prevents the oil from coming
IN contact with the surface, and so there
is no attraction and consequently no sue
cess. Dust acSs III an equally uufavora
sLe way by ciogging in The hairs, which
must, therefore, be kept perfectly clean
Rubbing the legs together partly e!ean5es
them, but not perfectly, 80 The fly curry
combs himself by passing the legs eve:
wings, on which are rougn hairs. Bat the
head is supplied with B different kind
SO these are also utilized as brushes
Anyone who has used fly toilet, and who
has not? must have wondered how SO
large head, working Oh SO small pivot
could bs SO roughly pulled about without
danger of deca p!tatiOn. co 20 the fly
thoa cf1lcahoider and learn how to keep
your head on.
A French writer Gays 1.-The walking of
insects may be com pared to that OF three
men IN Indian ile; tho foremost and
hiaGmost of whom keep step, while the
,s~ @hr plt
Ii humanity employed such comp!e x
system OF lCcomotion as this, what a
stupenduous accom- plishment bays first
step would then be matter of far more
vital import than now. To walk on a
vertical plane with six feet to be man
aged in this preplexing way, would it not
need the whole of the period of legal
infantuoOd to becoms an accomplished d
pedestrian This Is one of the cases
where p ''cTisique OF pure reason" would
seem 10 prove that even when 1t is oUm-
biued with experience Is falls short of
instinct. Toward the end of autumn the
aies sometimes have a rheumatic appear
ance, finding difficulty IL detaching the
feet. It is supposed that age and intrm-
ity have left them too weak TO lift the
fect With the necessary force. Perhaps,
after the manner of humanity, some who
have been in warmer place and are le1s
stiff than the rest, jeer at their com pan
ions, and tell them that their feet are 50
large that when they once get them plant
ed, l. requires super Il strength 20 raise
them.
In speaking of the instrument By which
the fly sucks up liquids, one good author
ity says: "It is impossible to describe
this beautiful structure intelligibiy." In
view of this statement, [ think a hecom-
ing modesty would require me to pass
over the subject lightry, especially as
after reading the descri ptiop, l fRlly
agreed with the writer. However / will
quote another writer on tho subject;
when the fly settles on lump OF sugar
or other sweet substance, it unbends and
extends its tongue, and the knot like end
divides into two broad leaves which pre-
sent sucker-like surface, rough like a
rasp, and as it is by means of this that
the fly causes mischief 10 book covers
aud teaBes US in summer by slipping the
pers piratiou. ANY solid sweet substance
is first dissolved by the fiy's saliva and
can then be slipped up
We are told that when we see dead flies
jeot they are on. We know that they
have died from eating some poisonous
substance, or from over-sating any food
Wherefore l conclude that IN fly ethics
gluttony is one of the mortal sins.
Youthful humanity is taught that the
possession of two eyee, aud only one ton
que, teaches that one should see twico as
muck as he tells. But on this princi pie,
mamma fly must teach her young hope
full that he must see 1000 times as much
as he tells musca domestica would serve
for model school master in thas he has
eyes in the back of his head; being thus
endowed not only with foresight, but with
retrospe3tion and cirCums pection. Our
two eyes give but one image to the
brain, so the 1000 focets of the flies
do not show him 1900 dangers where one
turks. Yet h. is as alert as if he saw a, ;.
900 pressing upon him from all sides
Prove it by engaging in the infantile
amusement of chasing Que over a window
pain and after few minutes you will &C
knowledge that ohild's pla is not the
proper name for the work. Is you are 4
good hunter you may corner your preg
but with fair field and 30 favor he il
too muob for you" "Semper Paratus'
must be his watchword. He does not oc
casionaliy take swing il what child
lately called a hammock for bugs, the
spiders web, but the ogre eutraps him
not chases him.
The fly is supposed to hear through il
antennae or horns 2s they are sometimes
called. These consist of three Joint.
with a plume projecting from the lower
one.
The sense of smell probably resides il
tho alulets or little wings, the seconi
pair. There seems, however, to be some
doubt about this in the minds of the en-
tomologists, but not in regard TO tbei
other rse, that of balancing the fly ia itI
fight, as removing one or both produces
in the fly tt e effect of balancing to part
ners. The alulets are also called balan-
GERS.
The wings proper, instead of being
com posed OF only one membrane, as they
appear to the naked eye are formed o
two membranes joined a. the edges Tn,
black lines that we see running through
them act as ribs of an umbrella to keel
the membranes stretched in place. Being
hollow they are supposed to act a. pass
ages to produce the buzzing sound. Tn,
wings IL ordinary flight are moved abou
600 times in second and carry the e.
FIVE feet; but if necessary this can be in
creased TO thirty feet, second, one thirC
as far as a race horse could go in tn.
same time.
We are told a single hy can product
746, 1876 young in three months, layins
about 120 eggs cylindrical in form anC
jo!nted at the end; the surface shining
like the mother OF pearl. After sbou
t~enty-four hours the Iarvs leaves tn,
egg and lives in any kind of filth. Tht
next change IS into q cylindrical reddisl
brown pups, from which the perfect a
issues in about two weeks from the tim,
of hgtchiag." In view of such 8 gres
and ra pic increase it will be readily seer
that but few are needed to winter over i.
order thai the supply may exceed the de.
msnd early IN the season. These few arr
supposed 10 retire into q state of ''ic
nocuous desuetud-" pear q chimrey o.
other warm place, when the c1!d day
come. 1t is also thought that few pas
the winter in the pups state They hav,
the Minerva like quslity of entering 1p
on life full grown, as ali the growth il
u ade in the Is-vs state. So that those o
different sizes are not of diTersnt ages
but OF different species As Is usual il
the insec= world IL contrast with tn,
birds, the female is larger than the male
From GreepIand's ics mountains Il
Iudia's coral strand they are cor4idered
nuisance. Oae OF the cid Dlonkish csron
icles is reported as saying that 9Th,
father of lies might well have been Gale.
the father of aies," and this 1 think stii
voices popular opinion of the subject.
We kuo4 their usefuluess a. scaxenrsr