RECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



807 



suppositions, lie placed some beetles of this 

 kind in a glass vessel, in which was a toler- 

 ably deep layer of earth, and upon the earth 

 he placed in succession several small dead 

 animals, all of which were, in due course, 

 buried. The modus operandi is most gra- 

 phically and minutely described. Here the 

 earth appeared to be forced from beneath 

 the body, forming a cavity into which it 

 eventually dropped, while the little rampart 

 of extracted earth was eventually filled in 

 over the body. The result of this experiment 

 was, that in fifty days four beetles had 

 buried, in the very small space of earth 

 allotted to them, twelve carcases of frogs, 

 small birds, etc. 



This is a very categorical statement, and 

 as such it has been copied and recopied, pass- 

 ing from the pages of one entomological 

 writer to those of another,, over and over 

 again, without further examination. This is 

 the great defect of compilations. If well 

 done, they often convey a great amount of 

 information in an agreeable form, collected 

 and methodized from sources difficult of access 

 to general readers ; but compilers are often 

 compelled to take such statements upon 

 trust, after some brief examination of the 

 apparent trustworthiness of their informant. 



It is very difficult to get up a strong feeU 

 ing of suspicion against such a categorical 

 statement as that of M. Gleditsch, and diffi- 

 cult to imagine how he could be deceived. 

 Still there are some little inaccuracies, which 

 might lead one to infer that others also might 

 have crept into his graphic narration. He 

 states, for instance, that he observed the 

 mole, after it was buried, to be swarming 

 with maggots. Now the larva) of this class of 

 beetles are verydifierent from maggots, being 

 furnished with distinct, well- developed pec- 

 toral legs, while " maggots " are entirely 

 legless. If, therefore, he uses the term ad- 

 visedly, and they were really maggots that 

 he observed, they were certainly the off- 

 spring of certain flies, and not of any kind 



of beetles. The larvse in question may have 

 been, and probably were, the larvse of the 

 burying-beetles, and not maggots ; but this 

 proves a certain amount of inaccuracy of 

 description, which might lead to the suppo- 

 sition that other inaccuracies or inadverten- 

 cies may probably occur in other parts of the 

 description, which would tend to invalidate 

 the whole of it. The time occupied in the 

 burying — fifty days — is also strange, as the 

 operation is generally performed in as many- 

 hours, and seldom exceeds three or four days, 

 It must be stated, however, that recent 

 entomologists have made similar statements 

 regarding the habits of the burying-beetles, 

 especially a very eminent one, who writes 

 under the pseudonym of " Eusticus." This 

 writer describes the habits of these beetles 

 'as M. Gleditsch does, but with a graphic 

 power far surpassing that of his predecessor, 

 ; at the same time giving to his account all 

 that minuteness of detail which generally 

 carries with it the appearance of a descrip- 

 tion made from Nature, and in presence ot 

 the facts described. Wishing, however, to 

 witness these interesting facts myself, and 

 being determined to catch the insect sextons 

 in the very act of prosecuting their opera- 

 tions in the way of interments of this kind, I 

 have on many occasions placed the carcases of 

 small animals, as mice, frogs, birds, lizards, 

 etc., in different parts of my garden, but with- 

 out ever on a single occasion being gratified 

 by witnessing such results as those described 

 by M. Gleditsch and several recent writers. 

 It is true that I almost invariably, at the pro- 

 per season, found burying-beetles beneath the 

 remains so placed, portions of which they 

 appeared to take into the burrows where their 

 eggs were deposited ; but I could perceive 

 nothing like the regular process of interment 

 so minutely described by more fortunate ob- 

 servers. In short, so far as my own observa- 

 tions go (but without in any way impugning 

 the good faith of others), I must acknowledge 

 that I was forced, at the close of a pretty long 



