The Bluebottle : The Grub 



tins baited with meat and not absolutely shut. 

 A similar test-tube is filled with white of egg, 

 but receives no germs. Both are closed with a 

 plug of cotton-wool and left in a dark corner. 



In a few days, the tube swarming with new- 

 born vermin contains a liquid as fluid and 

 transparent as water. Not a drop would re- 

 main in the tube if I turned it upside down. 

 All the white of egg has disappeared, lique- 

 fied. As for the worms, which are already a 

 fair size, they seem very ill at ease. Deprived 

 of a support whence to attain the outer air, 

 most of them dive into the broth of their own 

 making, where they perish by drowning. 

 Others, endowed with greater vigour, crawl 

 up the glass to the plug and manage to make 

 their way through the wadding. Their pointed 

 front, armed with grappling-irons, is the nail 

 that penetrates the fibrous mass. 



In the other test-tube, standing beside the 

 first and subjected to the same atmospheric in- 

 fluences, nothing striking has occurred. The 

 hard-boiled white of egg has retained its dead- 

 white colour and its firmness. I find it as I left 

 it. The utmost that I observe is a few traces 

 of must. The result of this first experiment 

 is patent : the Bluebottle's grub is the medium 

 that converts coagulated albumen into a liquid. 



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