The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1898-08-26

RE Little Pest II Admirably cen
Efrueted fer Serving the Par
poses OF Itn Creation

vEorshiped by the ancients and placed
as constellation IN the heavens The
PhiIistines sacrificed TO Beelzebub as
god Of flies and the Cyreneans 70
Achor. The Greeks offered an OK
every. year 10 Zeus APOmyiOs in honor
Of the god Of flies; and the Romans
sacrificed yearly in the temple Of Her
acles Victor in Rome The Syrians,
too. tried to aPpease the troublesome
god The COran Of the Malone
tans promised that AL flies shall per
ish except one, and that is the bee
fly"
Despite their antiquity, flies are still
something of a mystery, and 1t was not
until 1854 that DR.. J. Z. ROmbout, a
French entomologist, discovered and
advocated the correct theory Of how
a househy walks on a ceiling. DR.. Rom
bout proved that the ny clings to a
smooth surface by capillary force, the
molecular action between solid and
liquid substances. The insects feet
are covered with many thousands Of
fine hairs, each Of which terminates in
n bulb Through these hairs run a thin
liquid that seePs through in a tiny drop
at The end. When several thousands
of these drops have been fastened to
a window pane or ceiling there is no
difficulty at all for the fly to hang
on and no difficulty for him to release
himself instantaneOusly-
This is the theory Of RombOut, OBJ
tanned after some very fine calcula-
tions. A once popular idea was that
the feet Of the fly, being cup-shaped,
enabled him through what is called
suction to cling to the ceiling. But
Blackwell put flies in a glass vacuum,
where they climbed the sides as easily
as in the open air. HOoke next tried
to prove that the fluid the feet Of the
fly sent out was viscous, and held the
insect to the surface like mucilage.
This theory was exploded by RombOut,
who proved that the fluid was not
viscous. And If it were, said he, it
would be absurd to suppose that a fly,
after resting in one position for an
hour and giving the thick liquid time
to harden, could release himself in
stantaneosIy when alarmed.
Then ROmbout set about formulat-
ing his own theory. He examined the
tracks Of flies on a window pane, and
the idea Of capillary force impressed
him. He dipped the end Of hair in oil
Of olives, and succeeded in suspending
the hair from a clean glass pane. Wa
ter brought the same result as oil Of
olives. By a series Of fine calculations
Rombout found that a fly could walk
upward on a vertical glass pane sup
porting an increase over his own
weight Of .O2 Of a grain. He then
weighted down flies with papers at
tached to their backs and found by
experiment that his reckoning was
correct
RombOut, in the course Of his expert
ments. discovered other very inter
esting things about the fly. Each Of
the two wings Of the insect is provided
with hairs on the under side that serve
/ as a fine brush to clean the feet. When
a fly rubs his legs he is not always
washing his body, but is often remov-
I ing the dust particles from the hair in
| his feet that the fluid may run better
| The feet must be kept clean or the ny
cannot cling to a surface. He finds 1t
/ impossible to walk across a pane Gov
cred with dust. and oil surfaces cause
I the liquid from his feet to run together,
so that he is apt to slip
Under the wings Of fly is pair OF
/ balancers. little threads that termi-
nate each in an oval button. When the
/ fv is on the wing these buttons ex-
/ pand and guide the fight. 4 fly has no
/ lungs. but breathes by spiracles OF
/ breathing pores that lie open all over
/ his body and connect with an intricate
system of air tubes. These sPiracles
/ are protected from the dust by net
\ works Of fine, ilmy fbers that look
/ something like exquisite lacewOrk-
/ The chief value Of the fly lies in his
/ scavengiRg qualities. Indeed, some sci
/ entists say that without his assistance
man would not be able to live in the
| temperate zone. The fly feeds on both
\ LIQUIDS and solids. His mouth is shaped
something like a pump, and he sips
| perspiratiOn and saliva, his favorite
/ foods. through fine and cunning tubes.
! Solids he reduces to liquids before he
swallows them by a process Of Sc
| erection. He Is a voracfous eater, and
/ lives largely on the juices Of decaying
/ meat. fruit and vegetables Linnaeus,
the Swede. asserted that three flies
with their progeny could devOur a
| dead horse as quickly as lion could.
It has been estimated by scientists
that a fly can multiply himself 200
times every p hours Each newborn
| fly becomes full grown IN four or five
days
Nature has provided well for the
fly in his powers Of fight and ability
/ to escape from danger. he is supplied
with 1000 separate eyes that never
sleep. and can look either in front OF
behind. Each eye is separate and OF
/ peculiar construction, shaped like a
4 hexagOn- When alarmed the fly leaps
swiftly from his resting place into the
air, detaching his legs with no ap-
/ parent difficulty. After the first bound
/ he IS generally out OF danger, and re
sumes his IeisureIy fight. If hC
chooses. however, he can fly 25 or q
feet in a seco1d.-Kansas City Star
The only Place 70 Learn the Fact
ct am inclined" remarked the cru
. dite grandee, "to believe that those
Americans don't know when they art
] whipped"
aNO." replied still more learned
: Rrandee. 'sthe ignorant creatures arr
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