The evening times., 1899-09-26
A Scientific Fly.
(From the St. Louis stsr1


Barry Pain, the humorist, has written
this exceedingly funny diary OF a scien-
tific fly: "Monday-Comfortable sleep on
the library ceiling. Awoke refreshed from
the pursuit CT my studies OF homo. The
bald headed author entered early and seat
ing himself at the table waited for me to
begin. / find that by entering the meatus
audotorii and buZZing loudly l produce
in him strong commissions and spasmodic
movements. The fit lasts but few moments
and is accompanied by loud and inco-
herent language These movements have
been described as voluntary, having for
their aim the destruction or removal of
the stimulus-that is, myself. But If VOL
untary. why does the bald-headed author
spill the ink? The violent blows on the
temples, which are characteristic of the
onset Of the attack, might be held to be ap-
propriate and voluntary if they did not in
variably arrive too late to affect the stimu-
lating fly in any way. In my opinion the
movements are without any physical con-
comitant, and purely reflex.
Il find also that the eye is almost as eff
fective as the ear as hysterogenic zone.
In twenty-four experiments inkspilling
occurred five times-roughly speaking 20
per cent. / was about to continue the eX-
periments when the bald-headed author
took from box one of those brown cylin-
ders that we call smokesticks and placing
one end Of it In his mouth ignited it. This
disgusting practice, which is probably of
ceremonial order, and has its origin in fe-
tichism affords ample evidence that in
homo the senses Of taste and smell are,
If present at all, very little developed. So
overpOwering was the stencil from the
smoldering cylinder that l was compelled
to give up work for the day and retired
to the garden. Finding that a good deal
of the dead rat behind the potting shed
was still left, l made an excellent dinner
and retired to rest early.
'Tuesday-Researches in homo renewed.
The bald vertix appears to be very SEN
sitive to stimulus, though the reaction in
this case is confined to one or other of
the upper limbs, and is less convulsive
in character. 1t consists in repeated at
tempts to brush me off some time after
l have left OF my own volition. Errors in
time judgment and space judgment seem
to be very marked in homo. This was
very noticeable when he went round the
room with a paper knife. endeavoring to
hit flies. He generally does this when my
experiments on the ear, eye, and vertix
have been at all prolonged. He never has
hit one of US yet and there does not seem
to be the least probability that he ever
will, but he still persists. In fact, there
seems to be here an absence of any power
of profting by experience, and either
memory or the ability to make a correct
deduction must be deficit. His facial ex-
preston while thus engaged combines
misery, perplexity, and fury. 1t has been
suggested to me that these paper-knife
excursions are not connected with any de-
sire to kill flies particularly, but are
merely evidence of a generally mschiev
ious and destructive habit. l have con-
sidered the suggestion carefully and can
not accept it. We must accept it as one
of the characteristics of homo that he be-
lieves he can kill fly with a paperknife
just as we accept the terrible inferiority
of his visual apparatus and his disordered
sense of smell. On the whole, the day
has been fine and warm very pleasant and
genial meeting of flies at dinner tonight
behind the potting shed.
"Wednesday-On entering the library
this morning / was somewhat puzzled at
noticing a change in the expression OF
the bald headed author. He looked pleas
I ed and self-satisfied. He made no attempt
to write and never once took up the pa
per-knife, but watched with the deepest
interest large sheet of paper on the mid
die of the table. The sheet appeared to
be covered with some saccharine and Wis
cous matter. He remained staring at it
as if autohypnotized, until two flies
(strangers to mel went and perched on it..
Then came singularly repulsive and hor-
rifying exhibition of causeless joy. He
rubbed his hands, laughed. calculated Got
em! and altogether behaved in a way
which could only be considered insane.
"Later-Seyeral other flies, some of them
personal acquaintances, have perched on
the mysterious paper. All those who perch
there remain there: it seems to me that
they must have got hold of a good thing.
At the same time they make all the signs
of acute distress. With every fresh
arrival on the sheet the bald-headed au-
thor, now maniacal, has another outburst
of joy. In spite of the fact that he is en-
gagged in the fetichistica ceremony of the
smokestack, the scene is far too interesting
to leave.
"Later-I have made up my mind.
must see in what the peculiar attraction of
that sheet on the table consists. shall
return shortly"