FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 



was loosened, or completely detached. To this 

 succeeded another more inhuman mode. The 

 sheep was caught, and the fleece pulled from 

 its back. This barbarous practice prevailed 

 to a very recent date in the Orkney Islands. 

 In England the average value of the fleece in 

 1315 was 6d. (7s. 6d. of the present money), 

 being nearly half as much as the value of the 

 carcass. (The Sheep, Lib. of Use. Know. p. 33, 

 205.) See HAIR, SHEEP-SHEARING, and WOOL. 



FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. See FLAKDERS, 

 AGRICULTURE OF. 



FLESH. Muscular flesh, which is too well 

 known to need any particular description, is 

 composed of a number of white or red fibres, 

 compounded of still smaller fibres. It is united 

 in ordinary cases with a variety of substances, 

 such as blood, fat, ligament, sinew, and nerves. 

 It has been analysed by M. Berzelius who 

 found in it 



Part*. 



Fibrin vessels and nerves .... 15-8 



Cellular matter ...... 19 



Muriate and lactate of soda ... IN) 



Albumen and colouring matter of the blood 2'2() 



Phosphate of soda ..... 0-90 



Extract 0-15 



Albumen holding in solution phosphate of lime 0-08 



Water and loss ------ 77'17 



100 



The chief nutriment afforded by animal 

 food is derived from muscle or flesh. That of 

 adult animals is more nutritive than that of 

 young animals ; hence beef and mutton are 

 better adapted to support the frame than veal 

 or lamb. The latter yield most gelatin; but 

 the popular idea of the nutritive property of 

 animal jellies is erroneous. 



FLIES. "A host of flies," says Harris, 

 " forming nearly one-third of the whole num- 

 ber of species in the order Diptera, will be 

 found to have a short and soft proboscis, end- 

 ing with large fleshy lips, enclosing only two 

 bristles, and capable of being drawn up within 

 the cavity of the mouth. Their antennae are 

 generally short, hang down over the face, and 

 end with a large oval joint, bearing a little 

 bristle. Their larvae, or young, are fleshy, 

 whitish maggots, which never cast their skins, 

 but when the pupa-state comes on, shorten, 

 take the oblong oval form of an egg, and be- 

 come brown, dry, and hard on the outside. 

 This immense tribe includes the various kinds 

 of flesh-flies, blow-flies, house-flies, dung-flies, 

 flower-flies, fruit-flies, two-winged gall-flies, 

 cheese-flies, and many others, for which we 

 have no common names, but all composing 

 the tribe of Muscans, or Muscada. Some of 

 these flies do not strictly conform to the fore- 

 going characters of the tribe, in all respects ; 

 but the exceptions are few in number, and the 

 most remarkable of them will be noticed in the 

 following pages. 



" Many flies of this tribe are parasitic in their 

 larvae state, their young living and undergoing 

 their transformations within the. bodies of 

 other insects, particularly in caterpillars, which 

 they thereby destroy. These flies belong chiefly 

 to the family of Tachinada, a name applied 

 to them on account of the swiftness of their 

 flig l :t. In form they somewhat resemble 

 house-flies ; like them they have very large 



FLIES. 



winglets, and their wings spread apart when 

 they are at rest. They are easily distinguish- 

 ed, however, by the stiff hairs wherewith they 

 are more or less covered, and by the bristles 

 on their antennae, which are not usually 

 feathered. A large fly of this kind, the Tachina 

 vivida of my ' Catalogue,' is often seen on 

 fences, and on plants, and sometimes in houses, 

 towards the end of June and during the month 

 of July. Its large, oval hind-body is of a clear 

 light-red colour, with two or three black spots 

 in a row, on the top of it, and a thick row 

 of black bristles across each ring. The face 

 is grayish white, like satin, and the eyes 

 are copper-coloured. The thorax is gray, with 

 brownish lines upon it. The antennas, pro- 

 boscis, and legs are light red. Its body is short 

 and thick, and is about half an inch long, and 

 its wings expand rather more than nine-tenths 

 of an inch." 



I'tciparous Flesh-flies. "Most insects are 

 hatched from eggs which are laid by the mother 

 on the substances that are to serve for the food 

 of her young. Some flesh-flies produce their 

 young alive, or already hatched, and drop them 

 on the dead and putrefying animal matter, 

 which they are obliged to consume and remove 

 in the shortest possible time. An exception 

 from the usual course among insects appears 

 therefore to have been made in favour of these 

 viviparous flesh-flies, to enable their young 

 promptly to perform their appointed tasks. 

 These insects produce an immense number of 

 young, as many as 20,000 having been ob- 

 served by Reaumur in a single fly. Our largest 

 viviparous American flesh-fly is the Sarcophaga 

 Georgina of Wiedemann. It appears towards 

 the end of June, and continues till the middle 

 of August, or perhaps later. Its face is silvery 

 white, and there is an oblong square black spot 

 between the eyes, which are copper-coloured. 

 The thorax is light gray, with seven black stripes 

 upon it. The hind-body is nearly conical, has 

 the lustre of satin, and is checkered with square 

 spots of black and white, shifting or inter- 

 changing their colours according to the light 

 wherein they are seen. The legs are black, 

 and the hindmost pair are very hairy in the 

 males. The female is about half an inch long ; 

 and the male is rather smaller. In the Sarco- 

 phagans, or flesh-eaters, as the name implies, 

 the bristles on the antennae are feathered." 



Stable-fly. "The flies that abound in Ameri- 

 can stables in August and September, and some- 

 times enter houses on the approach of rain, 

 might be mistaken for house-flies, were it not for 

 the severity of their bites, which are often felt 

 through our clothing, and are generally followed 

 by blood. Upon examination they will be found 

 to differ essentially from house-flies in their 

 proboscis, which is very long and slender, and 

 projects horizontally beyond the head. The 

 bristles on their antennae are feathered above. 

 Cattle suffer sorely from the piercing bites of 

 these flies, and horses are sometimes so much 

 tormented and enraged by them as to become 

 entirely ungovernable in harness. The name 

 of this kind of fly is Stomoxys calcitrans; the 

 first word signifying sharp-mouthed, and the 

 second kicking, given to the fly from the effect 

 it produces on horses. It lays its eggs in 



487 



