The Life of the Fly 



through something tantamount to tufa, that is 

 to say, through earth which a shower has 

 rendered compact. For the descent, the grub 

 has its fangs; for the assent, the Fly has 

 nothing. Only that moment come into exist- 

 ence, she is a weakling, with tissues still devoid 

 of any firmness. How does she manage to 

 get out? We shall know by watching a few 

 pupae placed at the bottom of a test-tube filled 

 with earth. The method of the Flesh-flies 

 will teach us that of the Greenbottles and the 

 other Flies, all of whom make use of the 

 same means. 



Enclosed in her pupa, the nascent Fly be- 

 gins by bursting the lid of her casket with a 

 hernia which comes between her two eyes and 

 doubles or trebles the size of her head. This 

 cephalic blister throbs: it swells and subsides 

 by turns, owing to the alternate flux and reflux 

 of the blood. It is like the piston of an hy- 

 draulic press opening and forcing back the 

 front part of the keg. 



The head makes its appearance. The 

 hydrocephalous monster continues the play of 

 her forehead, while herself remaining station- 

 ary. Inside the pupa, a delicate work is being 

 performed : the casting of the white nymphal 

 tunic. All through this operation, the hernia 

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