Then he bent himself and pulled.

Out flew the age-withered corpse.

The head came off, the body broke above the hips and fell upon the floor, leaving the legs standing in the case, a ghastly spectacle.

On to this severed trunk the Pasteur leapt, again as he had done upon the black beetle.

It crunched and crumbled, filling the air with a pungent, resinous dust.