72 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



But those who in the other races are unemployed in this 

 case labor valiantly, now in the interest of their own 

 family, now for the sake of another's, without distinction. 

 If a couple is in difficulties, helpers arrive, attracted by 

 the odor of carrion; anxious to serve a lady, they creep 

 under the body, work at it with back and claw, bury it and 

 then go their ways, leaving the householders to their 

 happiness. 



For some time longer these latter manipulate the mor- 

 sel in concert, stripping it of fur or feather, trussing it 

 and allowing it to simmer to the taste of the larvae. 

 When all is in order, the couple go forth, dissolving their 

 partnership, and each, following his fancy, recommences 

 elsewhere, even if only as a mere auxiliary. 



Twice and no oftener hitherto have I found the father 

 preoccupied by the future of his sons and laboring in 

 order to leave them rich: it happens with certain Dung- 

 beetles and with the Necrophori, who bury dead bodies. 

 Scavengers and undertakers both have exemplary morals. 

 Who would look for virtue in such a quarter? 



What follows — the larval existence and the metamor- 

 phosis — is a secondary detail and, for that matter, fa- 

 miliar. It is a dry subject and I shall deal with it briefly. 

 About the end of May, I exhume a Brown Rat, buried by 

 the grave-diggers a fortnight earlier. Transformed into 

 a black, sticky jelly, the horrible dish provides me with 

 fifteen larvae, already, for the most part, of the normal 

 size. A few adults, connections, assuredly, of the brood, 

 are also stirring amid the infected mass. The period of 

 hatching is over now; and food is plentiful. Having 



