This god of the Flies was so called, thinks Whiston, as was Jove among the Greeks, from his supposed power over Flies, in driving them away from the flesh of their sacrifices, which otherwise would have been very troublesome to them.[994] It has been conjectured that the Fly, under which Baalzebub was represented, was the Tumble-bug, _Scarabæus pilluarius_; in which case, says Dr. Smith, Baalzebub and Beelzebub might be used indifferently.[995] “Urspergensis saith that the Devil did very frequently appear in the form of a Fly; whence it was that some of the heathens called their familiar spirit _Musca_ or Fly: perchance alluding to that of Plautus: Hic pol musca est, mi pater, Sive profanum, sive publicum, nil clam illum haberi potest: Quin adsit ibi illico, et rem omnem tenet.-- This man, O my father, is a Fly, nothing can be concealed from him, be it secret or publick, he is presently there, and knowes all the matter.”[996] Loke, the deceiver of the gods, is fabled in the Northern Mythology, to have metamorphosed himself into a Fly: and demons, in the shape of Flies, were kept imprisoned by the Finlanders, to be let loose on men and beasts.[997] In Scotland, a tutelary Fly, believed immortal, presided over a fountain in the county of Banff: and here also a large blue Fly, resting on the bark of trees, was distinguished as a witch.[998] Among the games and plays of the ancient Greeks was the Χαλκη Μυῖα, or Brazen Fly:--a variety of blind-man’s-buff, in which a boy having his eyes bound with a fillet, went groping round, calling out, “I am seeking the Brazen Fly.” His companions replied, “You may seek, but you will not find it”--at the same time striking him with cords made of the inner bark of the papyros; and thus they proceeded till one of them was taken.[999] This is most probably an allusion to some species of Fly of a bronze color which is most difficult to catch, as, for instance, the little fly found in summer beneath arbors, apparently standing motionless in the air. Petrus Ramus tells us of an iron Fly, made by Regiomontanus, a famous mathematician of Nuremberg, which, at a feast, to which he had invited his familiar friends, flew forth from his hand, and taking a round, returned to his hand again, to the great astonishment of the beholders. Du Bartas thus expresses this: Once as this artist, more with mirth than meat, Feasted some friends whom he esteemed great, Forth from his hand an iron Fly flew out; Which having flown a perfect round-about, With weary wings return’d unto her master: And as judicious on his arm he plac’d her. O! wit divine, that in the narrow womb Of a small fly, could find sufficient room For all those springs, wheels, counterpoise and chains, Which stood instead of life, and blood, and veins![1000]