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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



honey jar over himself to such a tune 

 that, as Uncle Remus says, "He want 

 jes' bedobble wid it, he was jes' kivered." 

 Brer Rabbit soon discovered that this 

 condition was incompatible with conven- 

 ient locomotion. Things stuck to his 

 feet in such an unusual way as to suggest 

 to this practical joker what a spectacle 

 he would present if he should roll him- 

 self among the sticks and leaves in Brer 

 Bar's yard. Carrying out this idea, Brer 

 Rabbit presents himself to the other ani- 

 mals with the usual side-splitting results. 



In the "Tar Baby" — "One day Brer 

 Fox rig up a contraption what he call a 

 tar baby." This sticky puppet placed 

 cunningly in Brer Rabbit's path excites 

 Brer Rabbit's ire, because he "won't say 

 nuffin" in response to Brer Rabbit's 

 overtures. In his efforts to teach him 

 manners Brer Rabbit hits the tar baby, 

 and as the tar baby will not let go, and 

 still persists in "sayin' nuffin," Brer Rab- 

 bit hits him with the other hand. This 

 is the beginning of such a tangle between 

 Brer Rabbit and the sticky tar baby that 

 Brer Rabbit is completely entrapped and 

 falls into the hands of Brer Fox. 



All his grown-up life the fly has to 

 manage with sticky feet. Imagine cur 

 plight if the soles of our feet were stick- 

 ing plaster, perennially renewing its 

 stickiness ! Whoever has experienced 

 the sticky mud of certain regions will 

 recall how the boots ball up and what a 

 conglomeration one drags home from a 

 ramble under such circumstances. 



To such inconveniences the fly is con- 

 stantly subject, and it is this that has 

 bred into him a habit of frequently preen- 

 ing himself, particularly his feet. These 

 are constantly becoming clogged with 

 adhering substances, and this contami- 

 nation the fly must assiduously remove 

 if his f.cet are to act properly in support- 

 ing him on slippery places. If this con- 

 tamination is too sticky to rub off the fly 

 laps it off, and it then passes off in his 

 excreta. 



Thus it is that all sorts of microscopic 

 particles are moved from place to place 

 on the feet of flies. These particles are 

 rarely of sufficient size to be seen with 



the unaided eye. Nevertheless, they are 

 constantly present, and the amount of 

 matter thus transferred is relatively con- 

 siderable on account of the fly's activity. 

 When flies have access to diseased or 

 rotten or foul matter the transfers thus 

 effected are dangerous. All sorts of 

 minute organisms are spread in this way, 

 including diseases of man, animals, and 

 plants. It is impossible to go into de- 

 tails in this place, but it is only right to 

 say that the imagination completely fails 

 to grasp the far-reaching consequences 

 of this transfer of germs and spores on 

 the feet of flies. 



Unfortunately, this is not the worst of 

 it. The transfer of germs by means of 

 the fly's feet is a small matter beside that 

 which takes place through its excreta. 



The following is the defecation record 

 of a well-fed fly (the fly was fed at 

 9:23 a. m.) : 



The time lapsing between the move- 

 ments varied from i to 15 minutes and 

 averaged about 4}4 minutes. 



No wonder that fly specks are common 

 if the fly evacuates once in five minutes 

 all day long! The number of specks in 

 even the best-kept houses is simply ap- 

 palling. I might be accused of sensa- 

 tionalism if I should publish records in 



