FLIES. 105 



than before, the quickness and the cunning are gone, and 

 an obstinate, blundering stupidity has taken their place, and 

 the fly in turn becomes the victim. If he escape this fate, 

 upon finding death at hand he selects some spot where his 

 demise will be particularly objectionable to the careful 

 mistress of the house : a window, a looking-glass, a 

 burnished ornament, or even a particularly white piece 

 of wall-paper is chosen, and there he dies, a white 

 fungus growing out of his body, and spreading to some 

 distance around the spot where he has breathed his last. 

 Whether this white fungus is the cause of his death, or 

 whether his death is the cause of the white fungus, is still a 

 point of dispute among the learned ; the rest of mankind 

 are contented to know that he is dead. 



Unhappily, a certain proportion live over the winter, 

 taking refuge in warm nooks and corners, and hibernating 

 there. So seldom are they found, however, that it is a 

 belief among the unlearned that the fly, like the swallow, 

 is a migratory creature, and that upon the approach of cold 

 weather he seeks warmer climes. It is urged, with a strong 

 show of reason, how can all the vast number of flies destined 

 to be the parents of the countless myriads in the following 

 year hide away so as to escape detection ? Scientific men 

 have never attempted to grapple with the problem, but 

 cover their ignorance by saying that as they are sure flies 

 do not migrate, and as flies do reappear in the spring, it 

 is self-evident they must hide away somewhere ; and with 

 this dictum the public must be content. Taken all in all, 

 it must be admitted that the fly has a good time of it, and 

 that his life is devoted solely to amusement, varied by 

 feeding. Most other creatures labour hard for a not 



