similar exodus. Although the
fare suits them, as their growth witnesses, the worms cease feeding and
make a point of escaping when death by drowning is imminent.

With other fish, such as skate and sardines, with the flesh of frogs and
tree frogs, the meat simply dissolves into a porridge. Hashes of slug,
Scolopendra or praying mantis furnish the same result.

In all these preparations, the dissolving agent of the worms is as much
in evidence as when butcher's meat is employed. Moreover, the grubs seem
satisfied with the queer dish which my curiosity prescribes for them;
they thrive amidst the victuals and undergo their transformation into
pupae.

The conclusion, therefore, is much more general than Redi imagined. Any
meat, no matter whether of a higher or lower order, suits the bluebottle
for the settlement of her family. The carcasses of furred and feathered
animals are the favorite victuals, probably because of their richness,
which allows of plentiful layings; but, should the occasion demand it,
the others are also accepted, without inconvenience. Any carrion
that has lived the life of an animal comes within the domain of these
scavengers.

What is their number to one mother? I have already spoken of a deposit
of three hundred, counted egg by egg. A quite fortuitous circumstance
enabled me to go much farther. In the first week of January 1905, we
experienced a sudden short cold snap of a severity very exceptional in
my part of the country. The thermometer fell to twelve degrees below
zero. While a fierce north wind was raging and beginning to redden the
leaves of the olive trees, came one and brought me a barn or screech
owl, which he had found on the ground, exposed to the air, not far from
my house. My reputation as a lover of animals made the donor believe
that I should be pleased with his gift.

I was, as a matter of fact, but for reasons whereof the finder certainly
never dreamt. The owl was untouched, with trim feathers and not the
least wound that showed. Perhaps he had died of cold. What made me
gratefully accept the present was exactly that which would have inclined
anyone but myself to refuse it. The owl's eyes, glazed in death, were
hidden under a thick mass of eggs, which I recognized as a bluebottle's.
Similar masses occupied the vicinity of the nostrils. If I wanted
maggots, here, of a certainty, was a richer crop than I had ever beheld.

I place the corpse on the sand of a pan, with a wire gauz