The Lampasas Daily Leader. (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 3207, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 6, 1912 Page: 3 of 4
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OR more than 33 years
Fred Enock, a London
man of science, has
been scouring square
mile upon square .mile
of England with a cam-
bric net no bigger than
your hat, looking for
an insect less than one-
twentieth of an inch
long. So scarce \ are
some kinds of these insects that there
are said to be only two in every 640
acres, and the finding of them is so
rare a feat that one must go back 60
years to read of a previous catch.
Now Enock has lajided one, and he is
£he happiest man in England; _
Enock is a fellow of no fewer than
four scientific societies and a most
learned looking man, with a tall
dome of a forehead. He talks like
an annual report of the Linnean so-
ciety. The insects have ben popu-
larly christened fairy flies, and, un-
til Enock fell in love with the shape
of one under the microscope 33 years
ago, men of science had considered
them of not enough importance to
waste time over. And to this day
Enock remains almost the sole author-
ity upon their playful habits.
Surely much ado was never made
about less. Here is a man with a
more than ordinary brain who spends
almost two score of precious years
looking for a few insects that will
never be of any possible use to hu-
manity or probably to science, and
the total result of his long search
could be put in a peanut shell. Of
course, he has done other work; he
is a mounter of insects for collectors,
and he tells me that according to ac-
curate records he has kept he has
I mounted no fewer than 200,000 speci-
fmens. In addition, he is^a lecturer,
.;in popular style, on natural history
isubjects, and he travels about Eng-
land explaining to the rising genera-
tion, the evolution of the spider, the
wasp, the bee, the butterfly and his
lifelong friend, the fairy fly. But how
mjany valuable hours, have been stol-
en from more productive fields of ef-
fort to spend with his net, his bottles
and his microscope on the invisible
trail of the elusive fairy fly only
Enock knows. If it were possible to
calculate the amount of money wast-
ed by him in his strange quest, It
.would probably be found that his
fairy flies are worth many times
their weight in radium. It will be en-
tertaining to let Enock tell of his
queer search in his own words, but
you must remember that when he
speaks of fairy flies as the most
beautiful insects in the world he is
Ike a fond parent describing his
fivorite child, and prone to exaggera-
tion.
\ “My Introduction to the fairy fly,”
said, “was at a meeting of w the
Rfoyal Microscopical society of 1878.
species no larger than a fiftieth of
n inch entangled in a spider’s web
as shown to us, and I immediately
ftpdt my heart to it. It had four wings
exquisitely shaped and margined with
h-airs. I determined that I would
s*earch out the life history of these
insects, and thus began my long
quest for some of the rarer species.
“At that time practically 1 nothing
was known of them. They Were so
small that they had quite escaped the
attention of scientists. The first men-
tion of them was in 1797, and then
nothing was heard of them for more
than 80 years. I soon found out that
they belonged to the same order as
the honey bee and the wasp—sort of
poor relations, so to speak. In size
they vary from a twentieth to a nine-
tieth" of an inch in length. Figures
as small as that convey no impres-
sion to the ordinary mind. Perhaps
it might be better if I say that a doz-
en of these beauties could walk
abreast through an ordinary pinhole.
They search out the eggs of certain
other insects ahd in them lay their
own, thus destroying the host eggs.
Each species has a different kind of
host egg, and in no circumstance will
they lay their eggs in any other way.
- “During the <50 odd years I have'
been searching for these flies, I have
discovered eight new genera and at
least 150 new species. For the last
four years I had the assistance of
Charles Owen Waterhouse, formerly
a member of the Staff of the Natural
History Museum, d!% South Kensing-
ton, who, like myself, became fasci-
nated by the marvelous beauty of
these fairy flies when seen under the
microscope, lind decided to devote his
time to searching them out.”
One can picture these two menr
both hovering around the middle 60s,
armed with cambric nets, a collec-
tion of empty glass tubes and micro-
scopes, both possessed of the enthusi-
asm that knows no discouragement,
tramping over the fields of England
day in and day out, content if once
in a blue moon either caught a new
species.
Enock gave to the writer a de-
scription of probably the greatest
moment In his life, when he discov-
ered in the bottom of his net the
male fairy fly of a certain species, for
which he had been searching patient-
ly for the whole 30 odd' years of his
acquaintance with the insects. Fe-
males he had landed before, but the
male was so rare that 60 years had.
elapsed since anyone had put one be-
tween glasses and submitted it to the
prying eye of the microscope.
“Waterhouse and I had been sweep-
ing Burnham Beeches with our nets
all one Saturday afternoon,” he said.
“I intended going home for dinner,
and as Waterhouse was staying out
we parted, he going to the west and
I staying in the field. I determined
to have a few more sweeps before
leaving, and at their. conclusion I ex-
amined the bottom of my net with
my microscope. I became dizzy with
excitement when I saw there the very
insect I had given more than 30 years
of my life to find—the male of a rare
species of which there are only two
in every square mile. In honor of
King George I immediately christen-
ed it Mymar regalis. In my excite-
ment, however, I almost lost the
treasure. He hopped away, and al-
though I immediately closed the net
I thought I had lost him. During the
next few minutes I was almost dead
with anxiety, but an examination soon
convinced me that I, still had him
captive and in a few seconds he was
safely bottled.
“Wonderful as this catch was, it
was rendered more wonderful still by
the fact that in the same net I dis-
covered a species of a minute insect
of which there was no record of any
previous catch for 90 years. I soon
had it, too, safely in a bottle and
started as fast as my old legs would
carry me after Waterhouse to tell
him the great news. I rah and walk-
ed fcFjr miles that day before I final-
ly fofmd him. ‘What do you think
this §8?’ I asked him, trying to re-
main as calm as possible and show
ing hhn the Mymar regalis. As soon
as he realized,, he offered me his con
gratulations. Then I showed him my
other find and there were more con
gratulations. That was a day to re
member all the rest of one’s life.
“But the$e fairy flies are not all as
scarce as the Mymar regalis. Far
from it. Despite the fact that they
have been overlooked by the great
body of naturalists,- they are to be
found in every garden and on every
window—in houses, in conservatories
and in trains. When I was younger
and my sight was better I used to
catch them with my hands as they
flew, like tiny specks of gold, acrofc#
^---P ;
a sunbeam. One of the most plenti-
ful species, that known popularly as
the black fairy fly, I have captured in
hundreds in the early sprang, close
up to the horizontal sash bar of an
east window. At other times they are
to be found in large numbers running,
up and down grass stems in search
of their host eggs.
“Even after spending the better part
of my life in the study of these in-
sects I am compelled to acknowledge
that I know very little of them. Of
the 21 genera now comprised in the
British fairy flies, I have been able
to work out the life history of but
two. Of course, I know considerable
about others of the remaining nine-
teen, and year by year I am adding
links that I hope will eventually com-
plete the life cycles.
"The common black fairy fly lays
its eggs in those of a small water
beetle, found on stems of plants be-
low the water line. In order, there-
fore, to get to its host eggs this fairy
fly must dive beneath the water. The
Alaptus, another common species,
searches for the eggs of a fly re-
sembling the common green fly, the
pest of the gardener. The tiny Camp*
topera papavis, one of the smallest of
fairy flies, sometimes appears in hum
dreds on windows, and at my home in
Woking I have captured no fewer
than 600, all female, at one time.
“One of the most extraordinary lit-
tle insects is that known as Cara-
phractus cinctus. It is aquatic in its
habits, using its delicately fringed
wings for ‘flying’ through the water.
Its legs are kept perfectly still during
the operation' and the fly progresses
with a jerky, zigzag motion.
“These insects appear in earl^
spring—some of them in March—and
I have captured them as latei as De
cember. They are difficult to breed
because of the difficulty of discover
ing their host eggs.
“Of all insects, that popularly call-
ed battledore wing fly is without
doubt the most wonderfully formed
and most beautiful I have ever looked
upon. It is less than one-twentieth of
an inch in length, with its two front
wings shaped like long-handled battle
dores, surrounded by a fringe of long
hairs. The hind wings, so tiny that
even under a powerful microscope the
ordinary observer does not see them,
are armed with three minute hooks
on the upper edge, which fix into
grooves on the upper wings and sc
form a strengthening bracket. My
first capture of the battledore wing
fly was made 33 years ago and it was
only last year, after constant efforts
that I was able to breed it.”
Speaking generally, Enock had high
praise for the work of the bureau of
entomology of the United States de
partment of agriculture. He con-
stantly Corresponds with Dr. Lei and
O. Howard, its famous chief, for
whom he has a great admiration.
“If we only had the brains in this
country that you have in the United
States,”: remarked Enock, sorrowfully,
“we might be able to give something
worth while to science. We know ab-
solutely nothing about the life his-
tory of the majority of crop pests,
and there is no organization such as
your bureau of entomology to advise
the farmers of Great Britain. The
trouble is there is no money avail-
able for field work, and when a gov-
ernment grant is made the money is
spent in some Ineffective way that is
of absolutely no practical use to the
farmer. Some day I suppose we shall
wake up.”
Dodging a Moustache.
Ella—How can you remove
from the face?
Stella—Turn your face awajR
Comerjofy
aJuniorj
<5*1^
ELECTRIC TOYS THAT AMAZE
Few Examples of Playthings That
Will Open Eyes of Boys—Girls
Also Remembered.
Some of the electrical toys now on
the market are actual wonders—work-
ing models in reality of the big elec-
trical equipments seen all about us,
says the Popular Electricity. Here
are a few examples which will prove
to be eye-openers to a great many
boys who are not in a position to visit
the large electrical supply stores
where such things are on exhibition:
For instance, there is a little steam-
ship (1) complete in all its outward
details, which is driven by a battery
and motor concealed in its hull. It
may be started, stopped or reversed
from a small switchboard through a
waterproof connecting cable.
Then there is a small fan (2) which
is not* a mere toy, but which will give
a good stiff breeze. It is actuated by
a substantial motor suitable for other
purposes.
Street lamps with real lights (3)
and (5) operate from a battery.
THE CROW AND THE PITCHER.
The crow has been flying and flying alt
day long.
He is looking for water to drink.
“If I could only get some water,” h«
says.
He flies first one way, then another
way. But he cannot find any. - V ^
O; there is a pitcher!
There is water in it! But it is far down
in the . pitcher.
He puts his head in as far as he can.
But he cannot get a drink.
“I’ll tilt the pitcher over,” he says.
See him try.
But he cannot tilt it over.
Electrical Toys That Are Wonders.
Complete electrically operated
street cars (7), with electric head-
light and any desired amount of track
are obtainable, and if desired, this
track may be protected by electric
block signals (4).
The girls have also been remem-
bered, and one of the things which
interests them most is a complete
electric range with cooking utensils
which operates from the lighting cir-
cuit, and which is capable of doing
real cooking.
Count In Their Sleep.
We are so accustomed to doing cer-
tain things by forcp of habit that we
hardly ever stop to consider what a
part it plays in our affairs. For in-
stance: In the larger cities profes-
sional fire fighters sleep in the build-
ings where their fire engines and oth-
er appliances are kept. All night long
the fire gong may be ringing, denot-
ing that blazes have sprung up in
other parts of the town, but only one
sort of ring 'warns the firemen that
CLEVER TRICK WITH FIGURES
“I must have a drink,” he says. “How
can I get it?”
There are some small white stones!
Look!' He picked up one. He drops it
into the pitcher. ■
Watch him pick up one after another. \
He drops them all into the pitcher.
The water rises higher and higher.
Now the crow can get a drink.
“Caw, caw, caw,’’ says the wise old
crow. “Where there’s a will there’s a
way.” :
Enjoyable Delusion May Be Sprung
by Boys and Girls on Their
Friends-—Result Always Six,
Boys apd girls who are fond of
springing tricks upon their friends
will enjoy the following one:
Ask some one to choose any num-
ber on the clock and add it to the
Trick With Figures,
number directly oposite. This is to
be done to himself, not out loud.
Then tell him to imagine that these
two numbers are joined by a line and
that another line is drawn at right
angles to the first line, so that a
cross is formed..
it is their Taste to be up and doing.
Through all the other clangings of the
bell they sleep comfortably; yet as
soon as the number of rings strike
that denotes that a fire is raging in.
their district the firemen instantly
arouse by force of habit. While half
asleep they almost leap into their
clothes and finally they rush to their
regular places on the engine, the
hose cart or the hook-and-ladder
truck. Often they do not get thor-
oughly awake till they are in the
street and racing toward the fire, but
they have done right by force of
habit.
Tell the person to add together the
two numbers at the ends of this sec-
ond line; then to find the difference
between the sum and the sum of the
-first two numbers. Then announce
that you can tell the result. No mat-
ter what figure on the dock face has
been first chosen, if the addition is
correct, the result will be six. Try it.
One Kind of Garters.
One day last summer little Dottie
was watching her mother canning
fruit. After the rubber rings had been
put oil several cans Dottie exclaimed:
“Oh, mamma, let me put the garters
on the rest of them! ”
Good Definition.
“What is the plural of scent, Tom-
my?” asked the teacher of a small
pupil.
“Two cents,” promptly replied
Tommy.
Sewing Society.
Little Eva observed a flock of noisy,
chattering birds. “Mamma,” she said,
“I guess they are having a sewing so*
ciety.” ^
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Vernor, J. E. The Lampasas Daily Leader. (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 3207, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 6, 1912, newspaper, April 6, 1912; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth889352/m1/3/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lampasas Public Library.