FLUTE FLY-CATCHER. 



221 



FLUTE ; a portable, inflatile instrument, blown 

 with the breath, and consisting of a tube or box of 

 ivory, furnished with holes at the side for the pur- 

 pose of varying its sounds. Its name is derived from 

 the word fluta, the Latin name of the lamprey, or 

 small eel taken in the Sicilian seas, because, like 

 tliat fish, it is long and perforated at the side. The 

 flute was in great esteem with the ancient Greeks 

 and Romans. See Tibia. 



Flute, Common ; a wind instrument, consisting of 

 a tube about eighteen inches in length, and one inch 

 in diameter, with eight holes disposed along the side, 

 by the stopping and opening of which, with the 

 fingers, the sounds are varied and regulated. This 

 instrument was formerly called the fl&te a bee, from 

 the word bee, signifying the beak of a bird, because 

 the end at which it is blown is formed like a beak. 

 It is now indifferently called the common flute and 

 English flute, partly to distinguish it from the Ger- 

 man flute, and partly from the supposition that 

 it is of English invention a fact, however, not 

 ascertained. 



Flute, German, or German Flute ; a wind instru- 

 ment of German invention, consisting of a tube 

 formed of several joints or pieces screwed into each 

 other, with holes disposed along the side, like those 

 of the common flute. It is stopped at the upper end, 

 and furnished with movable brass or silver keys, 

 which, by opening and closing certain holes, serve to 

 temper the tones to the various flats and sharps. In 

 playing this instrument, the performer applies his 

 under lip to a hole about two inches and a half from 

 the upper extremity, while the fingers, by their action 

 on the holes and keys, accommodate the tones to the 

 notes of the composition. 



FLUTES (French), in architecture ; channels or 

 furrows cut perpendicularly in the shafts of columns. 

 Fluting the shafts of columns is a practice never 

 omitted in any great and finished Grecian work. It 

 therefore seems probable, that it had some relation to 

 the original type ; perhaps the furrowed trunk might 

 have suggested the idea. It is, however, a beautiful 

 ornament, which is applied with equal happiness to 

 break the otherwise heavy mass of a Doric shaft, or 

 to obviate an inconsistent plainness in the other 

 orders. 



FLUX ; a general term made use of to denote any 

 substance or mixture added to assist the fusion of 

 minerals. In the large way, limestone and fluor-spar 

 are used as fluxes. The fluxes made use of in assays, 

 or philosophical experiments, consist usually of alka- 

 lies, which render the earthy mixtures fusible by 

 converting them into glass. Alkaline fluxes are 

 either the crude flux, the white flux, or the black 

 flux. Crude flux is a mixture of nitre and tartar, 

 which is put into the crucible with the mineral 

 intended to be fused. The detonation of the nitre 

 with the inflammable matter of the tartar is of ser- 

 vice, in some operations, though generally it is 

 attended with inconvenience, on account of the 

 swelling of the materials, which may throw them out 

 of the vessel. White flux is formed by projecting 

 equal parts of a mixture of nitre and tartar, by 

 moderate portions at a time, into an ignited crucible. 

 In the detonation which ensues, the nitric acid is 

 decomposed, and flies oft' with the tartaric acid; and 

 the remainder consists of the potash, in a state of 

 considerable purity. This has been called fixed nitre. 

 Black flux differs from the preceding in the propor- 

 tion of its ingredients. In this, the weight of the 

 tartar is double that of the nitre, on which account 

 the combustion is incomplete, and a considerable 

 portion of the tartaric acid is decomposed by the mere 

 heat, and leaves a quantity of coal behind, on which 

 the black colour depends. It is used where metallic 



ores are intended to be reduced, and effects this pur- 

 pose by combining with the oxygen of the oxide. 



FLUXIONS. See Calculus. 



FLY ; the name of a very troublesome insect be- 

 longing to the genus musca of naturalists. During 

 the summer arid autumn much inconvenience is 

 suffered from flies, which settle upon every light- 

 coloured object. The common house-fly is an abso- 

 lute cosmopolite, as there has been no part of the 

 world, yet visited, where it was unknown ; and, in 

 some countries, it exists in such quantities as to create 

 a serious evil. It preys upon every description of 

 animal and vegetable matter, always preferring such 

 as is in a state of putrefaction. Flies are useful as 

 agents in the removal of nuisances, which they effect 

 gradually by their numbers. The flesh-fly deposits 

 its eggs upon animal matter in a state of incipient 

 putrefaction. The larvae or maggots, upon being 

 hatched, devour the substance in which they are 

 placed, and, by a wise provision of nature, assume 

 the pupa state about the time their nourishment is 

 exhausted. Flesh-flies are gifted with an extraordi- 

 nary sense of smell, by which they are enabled to 

 discover the offensive objects, upon which they de- 

 light to feed, at great distances. By this they are 

 frequently attracted to flowers which have a disagree- 

 able smell. The small flies, which are so annoying 

 to horses and cattle during the summer months, were 

 also arranged, by Linnaeus, in his great genus musca, 

 but now form a subgenus (stomoxys), which differs 

 from the true flies in having the mouth furnished with 

 a peculiar proboscis, which, when at rest, is carried 

 bent horizontally, but which, when about to sting, 

 the insect places perpendicularly, and pierces the 

 skin, immediately producing a very sharp and disa- 

 greeable sensation. In the genus tabanus, the large 

 black horse-fly is arranged ; and into this genus also 

 several other species of flies are referable. Flies are 

 observed to be very active previous to rain, and, 

 during ite continuance, enter houses in great num- 

 bers, proving a source of great trouble and annoy- 

 ance to the inmates, in soiling books, paper, furniture, 

 &c. A variety of methods have been recommended 

 for their dispersion, few of which, however, are of 

 much avail. A mixture of molasses and water, in a 

 covered vessel, having a small opening cut in the top, 

 is perhaps the best. A solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate is also effectual, but its poisonous quality makes 

 it too dangerous to be carelessly exposed. 



FLY is a name given to a certain appendage to 

 many machines, either as a regulator of their motions, 

 or as a collector of power. When used as a regula- 

 tor, the fly is commonly a heavy disk, or hoop, 

 balanced on its axis of motion, and at right angles to 

 it ; though sometimes a regulating fly consists of 

 vanes or wings, which, as they are whirled round, 

 meet with considerable resistance from the air, and 

 thus soon prevent any acceleration in the motion ; 

 but this kind of regulator should rarely, if ever, be 

 introduced in a working machine, as it wastes much 

 of the moving force. When the fly is used as a col- 

 lector of power, it is frequently seen in the form of 

 heavy knobs at the opposite ends of the straight bar, 

 as in the coining press. 



FLY-CATCHER. The birds which constitute 

 this class are exceedingly numerous, and have given 

 rise to great difficulties as to their scientific arrange- 

 ment, no two authors agreeing in their ideas on the 

 subject. They form the genus muscicapa of Brisson 

 and Linnaeus, with the exception of some of the 

 larger species, known by the name of tyrants, which 

 the latter placed in his genus laniuz. In this, he 

 was followed by Gmelin ana Latham, who augmented 

 the genus by adding many species. Lacepede divided 

 them into three genera, according to the size of the 



