The Life of the Fly 



tion. I would gladly have gone farther into 

 the question, had T possessed the necessary ap- 

 paratus. But I have not, I never have had 

 and of course I never shall have the resources 

 which are so useful to the seeker. These are 

 reserved for the clever people who care more 

 for lucrative posts than for fair truths. Let 

 us continue, however, within the measure 

 which the poverty of my means permits. 



When duly fattened, the grubs of the Flesh- 

 flies go underground to transform themselves 

 into pupae. The burial is intended, obviously, 

 to give the worm the tranquillity necessary for 

 the metamorphosis. Let us add that another 

 object of the descent is to avoid the importu- 

 nities of the light. The maggot isolates itself 

 to the best of its power and withdraws from 

 the garish day before contracting into a little 

 keg. In ordinary conditions, with a loose soil, 

 it goes hardly lower than a hand's-breadth 

 down, for provision has to be made for the 

 difficulties of the return to the surface when 

 the insect, now full-grown, is impeded by its 

 delicate Fly-wings. The grub, therefore, 

 deems itself suitably isolated at a moderate 

 depth. Sideways, the layer that shields it 

 from the light is of indefinite thickness; up- 

 wards, it measures about four inches. Behind 



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