HOUSE-BOAT 



llol SK I.I.I.K 



811 



lint spring-guns on the premises : hut by doing so 

 lie max render himself liable t< an action if any 

 jHT-Min lawfully entering the premises should l>e 

 injured. In Scotland a peculiar name is given to 

 the oll'ence of feloniously aMHaultiiig a man in his 

 own house, called ilamesncken (q.v. ), a name also 

 used in the old law of Kngland ; and all oH'enccs 

 committed in another person's house are generally 

 jiunisln-d more severely than those not committed 

 in a house at, all. See also EVICTION. 



House-boat. See BARGE. 

 Housebote. Sec ESTOVER. 



HousebreakillK is the hreaking and enter- 

 ing into a dwelling-house, shop, or warehouse, 

 IM-I ween the hours of 6 A.M. and 9 P.M., and steal- 

 ing any chattel or money to any value. The draw- 

 ing a latch, the opening a window, or the employ- 

 ment of fraudulent means to effect an entry con- 

 stitutes breaking and entering. The punishment 

 ranges from fourteen years' penal servitude to two 

 years' imprisonment. See BURGLARY, where the 

 law in the United States is also noticed. 



Househunting. See ARSON. 



House-fly (Musca domestica), perhaps the most 

 familiar and widely distributed dipterous insect. 

 Adults are to be seen the whole year round, though 

 naturally most numerous in summer. They feed 

 indiscriminatingly on what- 

 ever they can suck up 

 through their fleshy pro- 

 boscis or scrape off with 

 their other mouth parts. 

 The females lay their eggs 

 in groups, about eight days 

 after pairing, and the whole 

 development occupies about 

 a month. The eggs are 

 deposited in decaying organic 

 matter, in dung, or in any 

 filth, and the larvae are 

 hatched in a day, or even 

 less if the weather be warm. 

 These larvse are smooth, 

 a, larva of house-fly, with naked maggots, without legs 

 i.nMtiuiig pores at tail or distinct head, with small 

 (lower) end; o. vouiur , i i . .1 .1 



fly emerging from pupi booklets at the mouth, and 

 sheath. a length of about one-third 



of an inch. . They feed on 



organic debris, move by contracting the abdo- 

 men, and grow for about a fortnight. Then they 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



A, head of house-fly : o, compound eye ; 6, antenna ; rf, maxil- 

 lary palps ; e, / proboscis ; ' g, labellie, lips of ' proboscis : ' 

 A, opening into ' proboscis ;' i, thorax, with breathing i>iv 

 (after Von Hayek). B, end of a fly's foot highly niaKiiili.M, 

 showing long hairs, two terminal claws, and two membranous 

 adhesive pads. 



seek some dry resting-place, undergo pupation, 

 and finally in another fortnight become winged 



insects. 



Many parts of the house tly, Mich an the Mucking 

 proliowix, or the hair-covered dice* of the f-t bv 

 which the insect* adhere to the window-pane, well 

 deserve the attention they generally get from thotie 

 who use the microscope. Though noune-flie* do 

 not l.ile, t|,i-y aie often extremely trouble- 

 Expedients for killing them off require no adver- 

 tisement. It in more ini|H)rtatit to notice that 

 house-flies are probably HometimeH responsible for 

 disseminating disease-germs. 



Household. THK KING'S OR QUEEN'S, in Great 

 Britain comprises the departments of the Lord 

 Steward (q.v.), the Lord Chamberlain (q.v.), with 

 the Lords of the Bedchamber, a medical depart- 

 ment, the lioyal Almonry, and the department 

 of the Mistress of the Kobe*, which comprise* the 

 Ladies of the Bedchamber, the Bedchaml>er Women, 

 and the Maids of Honour. For the Lords and 

 Ladies of the Bedchamber, see BEDCHAMBER (see 

 also ROYAL FAMILY ). The Maids of Honour, of 

 whom there are eight, are immediate attendants 

 on the royal person, and in rotation perform the 

 duty of accompanying the Queen on all occasions. 

 They enjoy by courtesy the title 'Honourable,' 

 when not entitled to it bv birth, and are then 

 designated the ' Honourable Miss -' without the 

 Christian name. 



Household Troops are those troops whose 

 especial duty it is to attend the sovereign and to 

 guard the metropolis. These forces comprise three 

 regiments of cavalry the 1st and 2d Life Guards 

 and the Royal Horse Guards ; and three regiments 

 of foot the Grenadier Guards of three battalions, 

 and the Coldstream and Scots Guards of two 

 battalions each. See GUARDS. 



House-leek (Sempervivum), a genus of plants 

 of the natural order Grassulacere, having a calyx of 

 six to twenty sepals, the petals equal in number 

 to the sepals, and inserted into the base of the 

 calyx ; the leaves generally very succulent, and 

 forming close 

 rosettes. The 

 Common House- 

 leek or Cyphel 

 ( S. tectorum ), 

 called Foils or 

 Fouets in Scot- 

 land, and in 

 some countries 

 Jupiter's Beard, 

 grows wild on the 

 rocks of the Alps, 

 but has long 

 been common in 

 almost every 

 part of Europe, 

 planted on walls, 

 roofs of cottages, 

 &c. It sends up 

 leafy flowering 

 stems of 6 to 12 

 inches in height, 

 bearing branches 

 of pale red star- 

 like flowers, 

 equally curious 

 and beautiful. 

 The leaves cut 



or bruised and applied to burns afford immediate 

 relief, as they do also to stings by bees or wasps ; 

 and they are beneficial when applied to ulcers and 

 inflamed sores. They were formerly in high esteem 

 as a remedy for fevers and other cliseases ; and an 

 edict of Charlemagne contributed greatly to tin- 

 extensive distribution of the plant. The edict i^ 

 in these words : Et Itabent quisqut sin>r<i i/mmtm 

 siiam Jovi* barbam ( ' And let everybody have the 



Common Hoose-leek 

 (Srmjxrrirtim tectorum). 



