The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-17
NOTHING LACKING IN THE Fly.
Admirably Constructed for Serving
the Purposes of His Creation.
From the Kansas City Sta


The humble housefiy is one OF the Oldest
and always has been one OF the most
distinguished of insects. He was worship
ped by the ancients ana placed as a con-
stellation in the heavens. The Philsunes
sacrificed to Beelzebub as god Of flies and
the Cyreneans to Achor. The Greeks Of
fered an OK every year to Zeus Apomylos
in honor of the god of flies; and the Ro-
mans sacrificed yearly in the temple of
Heracles Victor in Rome. The Syrians,
too. tried to appease the troublesome sod.
The Koran of the Mohammedans promised
that "all flies shall perish except one. and
that is the bee fly"
Despite their antiquity, flies are stlll
something Of a mystery, and il was not
until 1884 that DR.. ]. e. Rombout, a
French entomologist, discovered and adj
vocated the correct theory of how house
fly walks on the ceiling. DR.. Rombout
proved that the fly clings to a smooth sur
face by capillary force, the molecular &C
ton between solid and liquid substances.
The insects feet are covered with many
thousands of fine hairs, each of which
terminates In a bulb. Through these hairs
runs a thin liquid that seeps through in
tiny drop at the end. When several
thousands of these drops have been fast
ened TO a window pane or ceiling there is
no difficulty at ell for the fly to hang
on and no difficulty for him to release him
self simultaneously.
This is the theory of Rombout, obtain
ed after some very fine calculations
once popular idea was that the feet Of
the fly, being cup-shaped, enabled MIN
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 alr
Hooke next tried to prove that the fluid
the feet of the fly sent out was vlscous,
and held the insect to the surface like
muscilage. This theory was exploded by
Rombout, who proved that the fluid was
not Viscous And IL it were, said he il
would be absurd to suppose that a n.y.
after resting In one position for an hour
and giving the thick fluid time TO harden
could release himself instanteously when
alarmed.
Then Rombout set about formulating his
own theory. He examined the tracks of
files on a window pane, and the idea of
capillary force impressed him. He dipped
the end of a hair in oil of olives, and
succeeded in suspending the hair from a
clean glass pane. Water brought the
same result oil of olives BY a series
of fine calculations Rombout found that
fly could walk upward on a vertical
glass pane supporting an increase over
his own weight of .02 of grain. lie
then weighted down flies with papers at
tached to their backs and found by eX-
pertinent that his reckoning was correct
Rombout, in the course of his expert
menis, discovered other very interesting
a Ia H1r Of
wings of the insect is provided with hairs
on the underside 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 removing the dust par
ticles from the hair in his feet chat the
fluid may run better. The feet must be
kept clean or they cannot cling to the
surface, He finds it lmpossi BILE to walk
across a pane covered with dust, and Oily
surfaces causes the liquid from his feet
to run together so that he Is apt to slip.
Under The wings of fly are 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 spiracles or breathing
pores, that lie open all over his body and
connect with an intricate system of air
tubes. These splracles are protected from
he dust by networks of fine, himsy fbers
mat AOOh something IKE exquisite lace
work.
The chief value of the fly les in his
scavenging qualities. Indeed, some SCENT
lists 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 process of
secretion. lie is a voracous eater, and
lives largely on the juices of decayed
meat fruit and vegetables. IInnaeus the
Swede, asserted that three flies with their
progeny could devour a dead horse as
quickly as lion could. It has been esti-
mated by scientists that fly can multi
ply himself 200 times every twenty-four
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 Each eye
is separate and of peculiar construction,
shaped like a heXagon When alarmed
the fly leaps swiftly from his resting place
into the air, detaching his legs with no
apparent difficulty. After the first bound
ne is generally out of danger, and resumes
his lesurely fight. If he chooses how
ever, he can fly twenty-five or thirty feet
in a second
g.