Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-07-20
THE MODERN DEATHS HEAD.
t1ouse Fly Is Fitting Successor to Old
Skull and Gross Bones.

fhat little housefiy that soon viii
return to buzz and bother is older
than YOU are. The fly was in i'll re-
pute with Solomon. the wisest man
that ever lived, for he is complained of
IN Eccleslasses X, |. as falling into the
apothecary's ointment and diving.
much TO the chagrin of that func-
uonary. The fly is in i'll repute to-
Gay. more than ever before in the
eyes of the wisest scientists that ever
lived, who do not invoke poetic and
eloquent language to express their
antagonlsm, but tell what they think
of him in rugged and earnest prose In
the time of solomon the housefly. so
Tar as the records disclose did nothing
more reprehensive than fall into the
apothecaryS ointment. but today he
tlts from contamination to contamina-
ton and carries millions of life-des-
troylnS germs as he flies. Scientists
now look upon the insect as the fitting
successor to the old Deaths head, the
sflhnlng skull and crossbones III
modern science should be called upon
Tor a new emblem of death there is no
DOUBT that the housefy would be chos-
en-.
nut the fly antedates Solomon and
Tie human race, 1t has been found
IN fossil and rocks which were formed
ages before man appeared on the
globe. The scientists have searched
carefully, and have failed to find that
the housefiy has a single redeeming
trait Other insects carry pollen from
Hover to flower and incidentally do
great good. But the housefiy carries
only bacteria.
Curiously enough, the housedy has
fewer enemies than has any other in
sect, and it increases more rapidly
than any other yet observed by the
searching eye of science. loads and
frogs eat few flies. the dragon fly
eats considerable number There
is bird common IN the neighborhood
OF Kansas City named the flycatcher
which consumes few But the enc
mics Of the fly are an inefficient lot
Man, whose grievance against the nyI
is greatest, because it carries winged
dei4th, so far has tolerated if he has
lot welcomed the houseny His at
titude has been one of indifference
only lately the United States Govern
ment has become an enemy to the
housetiy. Tne fly has been under in
agriculture. from whence many bulle-
tlhs have been issued.
DIR. l.. O. Howard, chief entomologist
OIL the department sent out in 1909 a
pamphlet in which he proposes to
ehange the name of the housely to the
typhoid fly. The Government experts
mold that the fly may be easily des-
troyed if the subject Is given enough
attention
How does the househy get through
the long winter? He hibernates in
the winter in two ways. The female
NY creeps into some sheltered place and
there sleeps until spring. Hiberna-
ton also takes place in the egg state.
The early spring, therefore, sees a con-
siderable number of flies on the wing
and their numbers increase daily. al
most hourly. The fly egg passes sue
cessively through the larval and pupal
states in 10 to IA days At the end of
such period the egg has become fly
The season of propagation begins early
and continues without cessation or in
PERMISSION until cold weather. The
last eggs laid in the autumn are
caught by the cold weather before they
hatch, These simply wait until
spring retaining full vitality. and when
the warm days return they proceed as
If no Intervention had occurred. Win
ter is a mere recess to fly processes of
reproduction. The large majority of