BUR YING-BEETLES : EXPERIMENTS 9 1 



Yet another of the fine arguments in favor of the 

 reasoning power of animals flies from the light of in- 

 vestigation and founders in the slough of error! I ad- 

 mire your simple faith, you masters vi^ho take seriously 

 the statements of chance-met observers, richer in imag- 

 ination than in veracity; I admire your credulous zeal, 

 when, without criticism, you build up your theories on 

 such absurdities. 



Let us proceed. The stake is henceforth planted verti- 

 cally, but the body hanging on it does not reach the base : 

 a condition which suffices to ensure that there is never 

 any digging at this point. I make use of a Mouse, who, 

 by reason of her trifling weight, will lend herself better 

 to the insect's manoeuvers. The dead body is fixed by 

 the hind-legs to the top of the stake with a ligature of 

 raphia. It hangs plumb, in contact with the stick. 



Very soon two Necrophori have discovered the tit-bit. 

 They climb up the miniature mast ; they explore the body, 

 dividing its fur by thrusts of the head. It is recognized 

 to be an excellent find. So to work. Here we have 

 again, but under far more difficult conditions, the tactics 

 employed when it was necessary to displace the unfavor- 

 ably situated body : the two collaborators slip between the 

 Mouse and the stake, when, taking a grip of the latter 

 and exerting a leverage with their backs, they jerk and 

 shake the body, which oscillates, twirls about, swings 

 away from the stake and relapses. All the morning is 

 passed in vain attempts, interrupted by explorations on 

 the animal's body. 



In the afternoon the cause of the check is at last recog- 



