Knowing these difficulties, the mothers, however greatly tempted by the smell, abstain from breeding.

As a matter of fact, after long waiting, fearing lest some packets of eggs may have escaped my attention, I inspect the contents of the jar from top to bottom.

Meat and sand contain neither larvae nor pupae: the whole is absolutely deserted.
The layer of sand being only a finger's-breadth thick, this experiment requires certain precautions.

The meat may expand a little, in going bad, and protrude in one or two places.

However small the fleshy eyots that show above the surface, the Flies come to them and breed.
Sometimes also the juices oozing from the putrid meat soak a small extent of the sandy floor.