CHEESE WORMS 75 



dishes; from the good part worms were hatched, and 

 from those worms already in the bad part there appeared 

 numerous Httle black flies, like those mentioned above, 

 but not a single common fly. I know that it is hard to 

 believe that milk products do not breed worms spon- 

 taneously, for worms are often found in the heart of our 

 most delicate Lucca cheeses. I could suggest that the 

 eggs producing these worms were laid by flies in the milk 

 at milking time, when the milk is left in the pails to 

 gather, and is surrounded by swarms of flies. Hence 

 the Greek poet, " to whom the muses gave suck more 

 freely than to others," in the sixteenth book of the Iliad, 

 verse 641, compares the Greeks and Trojans, who were 

 fighting over the body of Sarpedon, to the flies that 

 buzz over the milk-buckets in the Spring. This reason, 

 though not without value, does not satisfy me, neverthe- 

 less, and I think it probable that the eggs were laid by 

 flies in the cracks of the ripening cheese, and the young 

 maggot, seeking the tenderest food, worked his way to 

 the heart of the cheese; escaping thence at the deter- 

 mined time, he seeks a place where he can fix himself for 

 the few days of transformation, whence he issues in the 

 flying stage, according to the type of parent. 



Feeling that I have spoken sufficiently about this mat- 

 ter, perhaps even with too great prolixity and tedious- 

 ness, I shall pass on to tell you about those worms 

 popularly and erroneously believed to arise spontane- 

 ously in vegetables and decayed fruits, in wood and in 

 trees. 



Know, then, that as it is true that meats, fish and milk 

 products kept in a protected place do not breed worms, 

 it is likewise true that fruits and vegetables, raw and 

 cooked, secured in the same way, do not grow wormy; 



