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There are very large flies, too, which most people call camp-flies, though some call them dog-flies. They have a very harsh buzz and.a very rapid flight. They are extremely long-lived, and endure the whole winter without food, usually hiding in the roof. Another surprising thing in them is that they are bisexual, like the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, who had two natures and double beauty. Though I still have a great deal to say, I will stop talking, for fear you may think that, as the saying goes, I am making an elephant out of a fly. Except through Lucian, nothing is known of this philosopher. Some have sought to identify him with one Albinus, about whom we have scarcely any information, and others have thought him a child of Lucian’s fancy. But it is quite possible that he really existed, and led, as Lucian says, a life of retirement.
