The Life of the Fly 



gauze; they swarm, wriggle, release them- 

 selves and leap into the chasm. It is a nine- 

 inch drop at least. When this is done, the 

 mother makes off, knowing for a certainty that 

 her offspring will shift for themselves. If they 

 fall on the meat, well and good; if they fall 

 elsewhere, they can reach the morsel by crawl- 

 ing. 



This confidence in the unknown factor of 

 the precipice, with no indication but that of 

 smell, deserves fuller investigation. From 

 what height will the Flesh-fly dare to let her 

 children drop? I top the test-tube with an- 

 other tube, the width of the neck of a claret- 

 bottle. The mouth is closed either with wire- 

 gauze, or with a paper cover with a slight cut 

 in it. Altogether, the apparatus measures 

 twenty-five inches in height. No matter: the 

 fall is not serious for the lithe backs of the 

 young grubs; and, in a few days, the test-tube 

 is filled with larvae, in which it is easy to recog- 

 nize the Flesh-fly's family by the fringed coro- 

 net that opens and shuts at the maggot's stern 

 like the petals of a little flower. I did not see 

 the mother operating: I was not there at the 

 time; but there is no doubt possible of her 

 coming nor of the great dive taken by the 



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