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 would be to find a more repulsive one to remind us constantly of the filthy and dangerous habits of the fly. STRUCTURE In order that we may better understand why it is that the house-fly is capable of so much mischief, let us consider briefly a few points in regard to its structure, its methods of feeding and its life-history.