More Beetles 



the cocoons are free, that Is to say, they do 

 not adhere to a fixed base; they are con- 

 structed without a special foundation. The 

 Funeral-pall Cetonia has other methods. If 

 it finds In the leaf-mould a little stone, no 

 larger than a finger-nail, It will by preference 

 build Its hut on this; but. If there Is no little 

 stone. It can quite well dispense with It and 

 build as the others do, without any firm sup- 

 port. 



The Inside of the cocoon Is smooth as 

 stucco, as Is required by the delicate skin 

 first of the grub, then of the nymph. The 

 wall Is tough, resisting the pressure of the 

 finger. It consists of a brown, homogeneous 

 material, of a nature which at first is diffi- 

 cult to determine. It must have been a 

 smooth paste which the grub worked In Its 

 own fashion, even as the potter works his 

 clay. 



Does the ceramic art of the Cetonia like- 

 wise employ some sort of fuller's earth? So 

 we should judge, from the books, which 

 agree In regarding the cocoons of the Cock- 

 chafer, the Oryctes, the Cetonia and other 

 Beetles as earthy structures. The books, 

 which are generally compilations and not 

 collections of facts directly observed, do not 

 26 



