A DUNG-BEETLE OF THE PAMPAS 101 



This explains the extreme penury of history outside 

 the dry descriptions of the nomenclator. Overwhelming 

 us with its numbers, the exotic insect nearly always 

 preserves the secret of its manners. Nevertheless, it were 

 well to compare what happens under our eyes with that 

 which happens elsewhere ; it were excellent to see how, in 

 the same corporation of workers, the fundamental instinct 

 varies with climatic conditions. 



Then my travellmg regrets return, vainer to-day than 

 ever, unless one could find a seat on the carpet of which 

 we read in the Arabian Nights, the famous carpet whereon 

 one had but to sit to be carried whithersoever he pleased. 

 marvellous conveyance, far preferable to Xavier de 

 Maistre's post-chaise ! If only I could find a little corner 

 on it, with a return-ticket ! 



I do find it. I owe this unexpected good fortune 

 to a Christian Brother, to Brother Judulian, of the 

 Lasalle College at Buenos Ayres. His modesty would be 

 offended by the praises which his debtor owes him. Let 

 us simply say that, acting on my instructions, his eyes 

 take the place of mine. He seeks, finds, observes, sends 

 me his notes and his discoveries. I observe, seek and find 

 with him, by correspondence. 



It is done : thanks to this first-rate collaborator, I have 

 my seat on the magic carpet. Behold me in the pampas of 

 the Argentine Republic, eager to draw a parallel between 

 the industry of the Dung-beetles of Sérignan^ and that of 

 their rivals in the western hemisphere. 



A glorious beginning ! An accidental find procures 

 me, to start with, Phanseus Milo, a magnificent msect, 

 blue-black all over. The corselet of the male juts 

 forward, over the head, in a short, broad, flattened 



Sérignan, in Provence, is the author's birth-place. — Translator's Note. 



