32 THE BOOK OF THE FLY 



mally pupating larvae. Some of the maggots of human 

 intestinal myiasis are not perhaps amenable to artificial 

 culture up to the stage of final metamorphosis ; and 

 they do not appear to have developed a breed or new 

 species with a distinct habit of life. All the credible 

 accounts of human intestinal myiasis point towards 

 some fly which is plural-brooded, and of which the 

 larvae develop rapidly and promptly quit the body all 

 at once ; otherwise more than one infection must have 

 occurred. The tales of prolonged continuous breeding, 

 with slow and prodigiously copious emergings at 

 intervals, should be altogether discredited. 



It is an amply warranted criticism to say that recently 

 published records by authorities, in an endeavour to 

 comprise every reported instance of myiasic infection, 

 seem to countenance mere coarse Gargantuan jokes. 

 On the other hand, it is painful to read such a " cock- 

 and-bull " story as that of the doctor about his elderly 

 lady patient, up whose nostril a gravid female blue- 

 bottle flew and successfully performed the prolonged 

 and delicate operation of laying therein a large batch 

 of eggs, in spite of all attempts to expel the invader 

 by violent sneezing. Day by day the said doctor 

 observed the terrible injury, and the symptoms accom- 

 panying the growth of the feeding maggots, whilst the 

 injection of a spoonful of paraffin would have effected 

 an instantaneous cure. 



