The Life of the Fly 



nected with general properties which I ought 

 to find in any insect, even the most harm- 

 less. 



I consult Oryctes nasicornis, the peaceable 

 Rhinoceros Beetle, on this subject. To get 

 at the exact nature of the materials, instead 

 of pulverizing the whole insect in a mortar, 

 I use merely the muscular tissue obtained by 

 scraping the inside of the dried Oryctes' corse- 

 let. Or else I extract the dry contents of the 

 hind-legs. I do the same with the desiccated 

 corpses of the Cockchafer, the Capricorn, or 

 Cerambyx Beetle, and the Cetonia, or Rose- 

 chafer. Each of my gleanings, with a little 

 water added, is left to soften for a couple of 

 days in a watch-glass and yields to the liquid 

 whatever can be extracted from it by crushing 

 and dissolving. 



This time, we take a great step forward. 

 All my preparations, without distinction, are 

 horribly virulent. Let the reader judge. I 

 select as my first patient the Sacred Beetle, 

 Scarabceiis sacer, who thanks to his size and 

 sturdiness, lends himself admirably to an ex- 

 periment of this kind. I operate upon a dozen, 

 in the corselet, on the breast, on the belly and, 

 by preference, on one of the hind-legs, far re- 

 moved from the impressionable nervous cen- 

 374 



