From what height will the Flesh-fly dare to let her children drop?
I top the test-tube with another 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 recognize the Flesh-fly's family by the fringed coronet 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 family: the contents of the test-tube furnish me with a duly authenticated certificate.
I admire the leap and, to obtain one better still, I replace the tube by another, so that the apparatus now stands forty-six inches high.

The column is erected at a spot frequented by Flies, in a dim light.