ble. Those that were knocked into the coffee or the cream could be
fished out; those that went into the soup or the hash were never missed!

Not only were the flies regarded as splendid things with which to amuse
the baby, but they were thought to be very useful as scavengers as they
were often seen feeding on all kinds of refuse in the yard. Then, too,
they seemed to be cleanly little things, for almost any time some of
them could be seen brushing their heads and bodies with their legs and
evidently having a good clean-up. More than that it never occurred to us
that it would be possible to get rid of them even should it be thought
advisable, for they came from "out doors," and who could kill all the
flies "out doors"?

Fortunately, or otherwise, these halcyon days have gone by and the
common, innocent, friendly little house-fly is now an outcast convicted
of many crimes and accused of a long list of others (Fig. 38).

Its former friends have become its sworn enemies. The foremost
entomologist of the land has suggested that we even change its name and
give it one that would be more suggestive of the abhorence with which we
now look upon it.

[Illustration: FIG. 38--The house-fly (_Musca domestica_).]

And all these changes have come about because science has turned the
microscope on the house-fly and men have studied its habits. We know now
that as the fly is "tickling baby's nose" it may be spreading there
where they may be inhaled or where they may be taken into the baby's
mouth thousands of germs some of which may cause some serious disease.
We know that as they are buzzing about our faces while we are trying to
sleep they may, unwittingly, be in the same nefarious business, and we
know that as they sip from our cups with us or bathe in our coffee or
our soup or walk daintily over our beefsteak or frosted cake they are
leaving behind a trail of filth and bacteria, and we know that some of
these germs may be and often are the cause of some of our common
diseases. As the typhoid germs are very often distributed in this way,
Dr. Howard has suggested that the house-fly shall be known in the future
as the typhoid-fly, not because it is solely responsible for the spread
of typhoid, but because it is such an important factor in it and is so
dangerous from every point of view. The names "manure fly" and "privy
fly" have also been suggested and would perhaps serve just as well, as
the only object in giving it another name