What were they doing there? Were they the prisoners of the flower? Had it converted itself into a trap which allowed them to enter, but prevented them from escaping, by means of a fence of converging hairs? No, they were not prisoners; they had full liberty to go away, as is shown by the final exodus, which is effected without impediment. Deceived by a false odour, were they doing their best to instal their eggs, as they would have done under a corpse? Not that either. There is no trace of an attempt at egg-laying in the dragon’s purse. They came, enticed by the smell of a dead body, their supreme delight; they were drunk with corpse; and they spun round frantically in an undertakers’ carnival. When the bacchanal dance is at its height, I try to count the number of the arrivals. I rip up the floral pouch and pour its contents into a flask. Absolutely tipsy though they be, many would escape during the census, which I wish to take accurately. A few drops of carbon bisulphide deprive the crowd of motion. The counting then shows that there were over four hundred. Such was the living billow which I saw surging just now in the dragon’s purse. The throng consists entirely of two families, Dermestes and Saprini, [45] both of whom are very busy in spring turning derelict corpses to account. Here is a complete list of the visitors to a single flower, with the number of representatives of each species: Dermestes Frischii, Kugel., 120; D. undulatus, Brahm, 90; D. pardalis, Schoenh., 1; Saprinus subnitidus, De Mars., 160; S. maculatus, Ross., 4; S. detersus, Illig., 15; S. semipunctatus, De Mars., 12; S. œneus, Fabr., 2; S. speculifer, Latr., 2. Total: 406. Another detail deserves attention just as much as this enormous figure; and that is the complete absence of a number of other genera which are as passionately fond of small corpses as are the Dermestes and Saprini. My charnel-houses of Moles never fail to be visited by the Silphæ and Necrophori: Silpha sinuata, Fabr.; S. rugosa, Lin.; S. obscura, Lin.; Necrophorus vestigator, Hersch. The reek of the dragon arum leaves them all indifferent. None of them is represented in the ten flowers which I examine. Nor are any Diptera, those other devotees of corruption. Several Flies, some grey or bluey, others a metallic green, come up, it is true, settle on the edge of the flower and even find their way into the fetid wallet; but they are almost immediately undeceived and fly away. Only the Dermestes and Saprini stay behind. Why?