eyes seem to monopolise nearly the whole head, having each 4,000 facets. Besides these large compound eyes, there are also three simple ones, forming a triangle on the top of the head. No wonder Mr. Fly is up and off so quickly, when he has so many organs with which to see the hand stretched out to catch him. A German naturalist has said that "few people are aware that these insects which swarm around their heads, have previously crept under their feet." We have seen how the eggs turn into maggots. After a few days of wallowing in their putrid food, the outer skin of the maggot hardens, and encloses the larva in a little barrel-shaped case. After a few more days, during which time the maggot in its covering has hinge, like the lid of a cylindrical box. Then out creeps the fly, its wings all damp and clinging to its sides. With its wonderfully flexible legs it soon cleans itself, and flies away, prepared to enjoy to the full its brief existence (at most lasting a month) as a perfect insect. During its short life, however, the female becomes the mother of hundreds of flies, who, each in its turn, produce hundreds more. So prolific are they that it has been estimated that from one fly 2,000,000 have descended in one season. No wonder that, in spite of the wholesale slaughter which goes on, "the cry is still they come." Birds, beasts, and fishes all combine to help man to exterminate the fly; but, fortu FLY EMERGING. nately for our sanitary safety, they do not succeed. If you wish to get rid of flies, get your drains seen to, and don't let decaying matter of any kind remain in the vicinity of your house. Are there any fly-doctors? We think not, and yet that there is a necessity for medical skill among them is apparent from the number of flies which die a horrible death from a terrible disease. Often, at the end of a hot season, we see some of these wretched victims spread out on the mirror or picture glasses, surrounded by a halo of white stuff. On examination it will be found that nothing remains but the empty shell. The inside of the fly has been consumed by a parasitic growth, and the surrounding milky-cloud will be found under a microscope to be composed of innumerable fungi. By what slow torture the wretched fly must have been compelled at last to give up its life! "Ah! look thou largely, with lenient eyes, On whatso beside thee may creep and cling, DURING recent years a great deal has been written about enamels. The highly-educated and artistic Japanese execute many of their quaint designs on all kinds of useful and ornamental metal-work in the durable and intricate art of enamelling. Egypt, that land which reached perhaps the highest state of culture attained by man, leaves us, among trophies of almost every other art, the remnants of her proficiency in this one. Through the ages it has descended to us, and among the most familiar objects whereon its usefulness is apparent, are the faces of our watches and clocks, and the linings of many of our cooking utensils. Usefulness is not, however, its only point. Exquisitely-coloured enamel designs are burnt on the outside of elegantly-shaped ornaments. Even our golden trinkets. are often embellished with the smooth-surfaced, unchangeable coloured substances made like precious |