FIREFLY  , a

term popularly used for certain tropical American click-beetles (Pyrophorus), on account of their power of emitting light . The insects belong to the family Elateridae, whose characters are described under Coleoptera (q.v.) . The genus Pyrophorus contains about ninety species, and is entirely confined to America and the West Indies, ranging from the southern United States to Argentina and Chile . Its species are locally known as cucujos . Except for a few species in the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Fiji, the luminous Elateridae are unknown in the eastern hemisphere . The light proceeds from a pair of conspicuous smooth ovoid spots on the pronotum and from an area beneath the base of the abdomen . Beneath the cuticle of these regions are situated the luminous organs, consisting of layers of cells which may be regarded as a specialized portion of the419 fat-body . Both the male and female fireflies emit light, as well as their larvae and eggs, the egg being luminous even while still in the ovary . The inhabitants of tropical America some-times keep fireflies in small cages for purposes of illumination, or make use of the insects for personal adornment . The name " firefly " is often applied also to luminous beetles of the family Lampyridae, to which the well-known glow-worm belongs . FIRE-IRONS, the implements for tending a fire . Usually they consist of poker, tongs and shovel, and they are most frequently of iron, steel, or brass, or partly of one and partly of another .

The more elegant brass examples of the

early part of the loth century are much sought after for use with the brass fenders of that date . They were sometimes hung from an ornamental brass stand . The fire-irons of our own times are smaller in size and lighter in make than those of the best period .