The Grey Flesh-Flies 



under completely, the anemone at the back 

 shuts and protects the stigmata. The grubs 

 of the Grey Fly are endowed with a life-buoy 

 because they are first-class liquefiers, ready to 

 incur the danger of a ducking at any moment. 



When high and dry on the sheet of card- 

 board where I place them to observe them at 

 my ease, they move about actively, with their 

 breathing-rose wide-spread and their stigmata 

 rising and falling as a support. The card- 

 board is on my table, at three steps from an 

 open window, and lit at this time of day only 

 by the soft light of the sky. Well, the mag- 

 gots, one and all of them, turn in the opposite 

 direction to the window; they hastily, madly 

 take to flight. 



I turn the cardboard round, without touch- 

 ing the runaways. This action makes the 

 creatures face the light again. Forthwith, the 

 troop stops, hesitates, takes a half turn and 

 once more retreats towards the darkness. Be- 

 fore the end of the race-course is reached, I 

 again turn the cardboard. For the second 

 time, the maggots veer round and retrace their 

 steps. Repeat the experiment as often as I 

 will, each time the squad wheels about in the 

 opposite direction to the window and persists 



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