The Life of the Fly 



neglect. That hope justifies my cruel studies, 

 which, though apparently so puerile, are in 

 reality worthy of serious consideration. 



Of my dozen sufferers, some rapidly suc- 

 cumb, others linger for a few hours. They 

 are all dead by to-morrow. I leave the corpses 

 on the table, exposed to the air. Instead of 

 drying and stiffening, like the asphyxiated in- 

 sects intended for our collections, my patients, 

 on the contrary, turn soft and slacken in the 

 joints, notwithstanding the dryness of the sur- 

 rounding air; they become disjointed and sepa- 

 rate into loose pieces, which are easily re- 

 moved. 



The results are the same with the Capri- 

 corn, the Cockchafer, the Procrustes,^ the 

 Carabus." In all of them there is a sudden 

 break-up, followed by speedy death, a slack- 

 ening of the joints and swift putrefaction. In 

 a non-horny victim, the quick chemical changes 

 of the tissues are even more striking. A 

 Cetonia-grub, which resists the Scorpion's 

 sting, even though repeatedly administered, 

 dies in a very short time if I inject a tiny 

 drop of my terrible fluid into any part of its 

 body. Moreover, it turns very brown and, in 



'A large Ground-beetle. — Translator's Note. 

 "The True Ground-beetle, including the Gold Beetle. 

 '—Translator's Note. 



37O 



