THE COMMON FLESH-FLY. 43 1 



of this wine at a friend's house in London many 

 months afterwards, three drowned flies fell into the 

 first glass that was filled. The Doctor says that, 

 having heard it remarked that drowned Flies were 

 capable of being revived by the rays of the sun, he 

 now proposed making the experiment. They were 

 therefore exposed to the sun, upon the sieve which 

 had been employed to strain them from the wine. 

 In less than three hours two of them began by de- 

 grees to have life. They commenced this by some 

 convulsive motions in the thighs ; and, at length, 

 they raised themselves upon their legs, wiped their 

 eyes with their fore-feet, and, very soon afterwards, 

 flew away. — The Rev. Mr. Kirby informs me that 

 he has made the same observation on flies taken out 

 of home-made wines. He says that many have 

 recovered after being twelve months immersed. 



THE COMMON FLESH-FLY*- 



This insect is, in appearance, much allied to the 

 large Blue-bottle flesh-fly f . It is, however, some- 

 what more slender, and is besides of a greyish tint, 

 occasioned by some irregular rather long stripes on 

 the corcelet running lengthwise, and some still more 

 irregular marks of the same kind on the body ; all 

 of them of a cinereous grey, separated by a shining 

 brown, which, under certain points of view, appear 

 of a blueish tint. Its legs are black, the halteres or 



* Musca carnaria. Linn. + Musca vomitoria. Linn. 



