Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1899-02-07
FACTS ABOUT FLIES
ADMIRABLY CONSTRUCTED FOR The
PURPOSES OF THElR CREATION.

The humble houseiy is one of the
oldest ami always has been one of The
most distinguished of insects. He
was worshipped by the ancients and
placed as a constellation in the
heavens. Tha Philistir sacrificed 10
Beelzehub IS god q - and the
Cyreneans 10 Achcr- the Greeks Of
fered an OK every year IL LeuS Apemy-
los in honor OF the god of dies and the
Romans sacrificed yearly in the temple
of Heraeles Victor in Rome. The Syri-
ans. too. tried TO applease the trouble
some god. The Koran of the Mo
hametans psomised that ''all flies shall
perish except one. and that is the
beefiy."
Despite their antiquity. flies are still
something Of mystery. and il was
NOT until 1854 that nr. j. +. Rombout.
a French entomoiocist. discovered and
advocated the correct theory of how
a housefiy walks on a ceiling Dr..
Rombout proved that the fly 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 a bulb. Through these hairs runs
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 al all for the fly
10 hang on and no difficulty for him
TO release himself insfantaneously.
This is the theory of Rombout. OBJ
tanned after some fine calculations.
\ 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
puts flies in a glass vacuum, where
they climed 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 il were. said he il woula be
absurd 10 suppose that a fly. after
resting in one position for an hour
and giving the thick liquid time to
harden, could release himself instan-
taneously when alarmed.
Then Romhout set about formulat-
ing his own theory. He examined the
tracks of flies on window pane. and
the idea of capillary force impressed
him. He dipped the end of hair
in oil of olives and succeeded in sus-
pending the hair from a clean glass
pane. Water brought the same result
as oil of olives. BY a series of fine cal
culations ROmbout found that a fly
could walk upward on a vertical glass
pane supporting an increase over his
own weight of .02 of grain. He then
weighed down flies with papers at
tached to their backs and found by
experiment that his reckoning was cor
rect.
Rombout, in the course of his ex-
periments. discovered other interest
ing things about the fly. Each of the
two wings of the insect is provided
with hairs on the undersole that serve
as a fine brush to clean the feet When
Il fly rubs his legs he is not always
washing his body. but is often remov-
ing the dust particles from the hair
in his feet that the fluid may run
better. The feet must be kept clean
or the fly cannot cling to a surface
He finds it impossible to walk across
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 a pair of
each IN an oTa bnsioahs wi esrm I'll. ns
IS on the wing these buttons expand
II
lungs, but breathes by spiracIes or
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 hne, tilmy. fbres that look
something ike exquisite lace-work.
The chief value of a fly lies in his
scavenging qualities. Indeed some
scientists say that without his assist
ance man would not be able to live in
the temperate zone. The fly feeds on
both liquids aud solids. His mouth is
shaped something like a pump. and
he sips perspiration and saliva. his
favorite foods. through fine and cum
ming tubes Solids he reduces to
liquids before he swallows them by
a process of secretion. He is a vo-
racious eater, and lives largely on the
Juices of decaying meat. fruit and
vegetables. Linnaeus. the Swede. as
serted that three flies with their pro
geny could deyour dead horse as
quickly as n lion could 1t has been
estimated by scientists that fly can
multiply himself 200 times every
twenty four hours. Each newborn fiy
becomes full grown in four or five
days.
Nature has provided well for the fy
in his powers of fight and ability of
from danger. He is supplied
with 1000 separate eyes that never
sleep and can look either in front or
behind. Each eye is separate and of
peculiar construction, shaped like a
hexason- When alarmed the fly leaps
swiftly from his resting place into the
air. detachine his legs with no appar-
mt difficulty. After the first bound he
S generally out of danger and resumes
his leisurely fight. If he chooses
however. he can fly twenty-five or
thirty feet in second.