AMONG THE INSECTS. 79 



in" n ot in two, but in three parts. The book has 

 named the parts. They are the head, the thorax, and 

 the abdomen. These, jointed together, were seen in 

 Musca; and I further observed that the six legs and 

 the two wings were attached to the thorax, or middle 

 division. With the aid of the glass I could see the 

 short feelers, or antennae, on Musca's head. Keener 

 eyes may see them without the glass. 



Much more can not be seen, except by dissecting 

 the fly and examining its parts under a microscope. 

 The fly has no hard jaws or teeth, as some insects have, 

 and can not bite. When the tongue is unfolded to 

 touch a piece of sugar, the knob on the end of it spreads 

 out into two flat leaves covered with small hair-tubes. 

 The sugar is first moistened and dissolved ; then 

 scraped and sucked up by the hairy lips. In like man- 

 ner book-covers and pictures are injured, the fly scrap- 

 ing them with the leaves of its tongue. 



The eyes of the fly seem to be two, but the micro- 

 scope discovers that they are composed of a great 

 many several thousand minute eyes, each with a lit- 

 tle nerve of its own. Three small and single eyes are 

 on the back of the head, but their precise use is not 

 known. 



PART 2. 



WHEN the fly walks, three legs are thrown forward 

 at one time two on one side and one on the other. 

 The microscope reports that the leg and the foot are 

 covered with stiff hairs, so that they are like combs or 

 brushes. This is the reason, then, why Musca rubbed 

 his legs together that one brush might clean the 



