The Life of the Fly 



sooner or later, received the white shower 

 somewhere near the gash. The look of the 

 obstacle, therefore, does not count; dull or 

 brilliant, drab or coloured: these are details of 

 no importance; the thing that matters is that 

 there should be a passage to allow the grubs 

 to enter. 



Though hatched outside, at a distance from 

 the coveted morsel, the new-born worms are 

 well able to find their refectory. As they re- 

 lease themselves from the egg, without hesita- 

 tion, so accurate is their scent, they slip be- 

 neath the edge of the ill-joined lid, or through 

 the passage cut by the knife. Behold them 

 entering upon their promised land, their reek- 

 ing paradise. 



Eager to arrive, do they drop from the top 

 of the wall? Not they ! Slowly creeping, they 

 make their way down the side of the jar; 

 they use their fore-part, ever in quest of in- 

 formation, as a crutch and grapnel in one. 

 They reach the meat and at once instal them- 

 selves upon it. 



Let us continue our investigation, varying 

 the conditions. A large test-tube, measuring 

 nine inches high, is baited at the bottom with 

 a lump of butcher's meat. It is closed with 

 wire-gauze, whose meshes, two millimetres 1 



^78 inch. — Translator's Note. 



330 



