ds downwards in the fetid soup, make
an unbroken shoal, the sight of those breathing cups incessantly opening
and closing, with a little clack like a valve, almost makes one forget
the horrors of the charnel yard. It suggests a carpet of tiny Sea
anemones. The maggot has its beauties after all.

It is obvious, if there be any logic in things, that a grub so
well-protected against asphyxiation by drowning must frequent liquid
surroundings. One does not encircle one's hindquarters with a coronet
for the sole satisfaction of displaying it. With its apparatus of
spokes, the Grey Fly's grub informs us of the dangerous nature of its
functions: when working upon a corpse, it runs the risk of drowning. How
is that? Remember the grubs of the greenbottle, fed on hard-boiled white
of egg. The dish suits them; only, by the action of their pepsin,
it becomes so fluid that they die submerged. Because of their hinder
stigmata, which are actually on the skin and devoid of any defensive
machinery, they perish when they find no support apart from the liquid.

The flesh fly's maggots, though incomparable liquefiers, know nothing
of this peril, even in a puddle of carrion broth. Their bulky hind part
serves as a float and keeps the air holes above the surface. When, for
further investigation, they must needs go under completely, the anemone
at the back shuts and protects the stigmata. The grubs of the gray 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 cardboard where I place them to
observe them at my ease, they move about actively, with their breathing
rose widespread and their stigmata rising and falling as a support. The
cardboard 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 maggots,
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 touching 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. Before the end of the racecourse 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 th