The times., 1898-07-03
HISTORY OF THE HoRsEFLY.
The Most Ancient of Insects, He Is
Still n Mystery.
(From the Kansas City Star.)

(From the Kansas City Star)
The humble horsefiy Is one OF the oldest
and always has been one Of the most dis
tingpished, of insects. He was worshiped
by the ancients and placed as a constel-
latiou in the heavens. The Philistines
sacrificed 10 Beelzebub as God of Flies
and the Cyreneans 10 Achor The Greeks
offered an OK every year to Zeus Apomy-
los in honor OF the God OF Flies; and the
Romans sacrificed yearly In the temple
Of Heracles Victor in Rome. The Syrians.
too. tried to appease the troublesome
god. The Koran Of the Mchammedans
promised that ''aH flies shall perish ex-
cept one, and that is the bee fly"
Despite their antiquity, files are still
something of a mystery. and it was not
until 1884 that DR. J. E. Rombout. a
French -entomologist discovered and ad-
yocated the correct theory of how
house fly walks on ceiling. Dr. Rom
bout proved that the fly clings to a
smooth surface by capillary force. the
molecular action bet-een solid and IL
ouid substances. The insects feet are
covered with many thousands of very
fine hairs. each of which terminates in
bulb. Through these hairs runs a thin
liquid that SeepS through in a tiny drop
at the end. When several thousands of
these drops have been fastened to a win
dow pane or ceiling there is no difficulty
at all for the fly to hang on and no diff
Guilty for him to release himself instanta-
neously.
This is the theory Of Rombout. obtain
ed after some very fine calculations. 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 hard
en-. could release himself instantaneousIy
when alarmed. 1-.
Then Rombout set about formulating
his own theory. He examined the tracks
of flies on a window pane. and the idea of
capillary force impressed him. He dip
ped the end of a hair in oil of olives and
succeeded in suspending the hair from a
clean glass pane. 80 Water 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 supporting an increase over
MS own WelSnt .UzD OF n grain lie
then weighted down flies with paper at
tached to their backs. and found by eX-
pertinent that his reckoning was correct.
Renfbout, in the course of his expert
ments discovered other very interesting
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 fly rubs
its legs he is not always washing his
h,,%
tcies from the hair in his feet that the
fluid may run better. The feet must be
kept clean or the fly cannot cling to
surface. He finds it impossible TO walk
across a pane covered with dust. and oily
surfaces cause the liquid from his feet
to run, together, SO that he is apt to
slip.
Under the wings of a fly is pair of
balancers, little threads that terminate
each In an oval button. When the fly is
on the wing, these buttons expand and
guide the flight. A fly has no lungs, but
breathes by spira cles, or breathing pores,
that lie open all over his body and con-
meet with an intricate system of air
tubes. These Spiracles are protected from
the dust by networks of fine. filmy fibers
that look something like exquisite lace
work.
The, chief value of the fly lies in his
scavenging qualities. Indeed some sci
entists say that without his assistance
man would not be able to live In the tenn
perate zone. The fly feeds on both LIQUIDS
and solids. His mouth Is shaped some
thing like pump and he sips perspira-
ton and "a. saliva, his favorite foods,
through fine and cunning tubes. Solids
he reduces to liquids before he swallows
them by process of secretion. He is a
voracious. eater, and lives largely on the
juices of decaying meat fruit and vege-
tables. Linnaeus. the Swede, asserted