The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



us begin by a careful consideration of the 

 creature's labours; let us support each piece 

 of evidence by others; and then we shall per- 

 haps be able to answer the question. 



First of all, a word as to diet. A gen- 

 eral scavenger, the Burying-beetle refuses no 

 sort of cadaveric putrescence. All is good 

 to his senses, feathered game or furry, pro- 

 vided that the burden do not exceed his 

 strength. He exploits the batrachian or the 

 reptile with no less animation. He accepts 

 without hesitation extraordinary finds, pro- 

 bably unknown to his race, as witness a cer- 

 tain Gold-fish, a red Chinese Carp, whose 

 body, placed in one of my cages, was forth- 

 with considered an excellent tit-bit and bur- 

 ied according to the rules. Nor is butcher's 

 meat despised. A mutton-cutlet, a strip of 

 beef-steak, in the right stage of maturity, 

 disappeared beneath the soil, receiving the 

 same attentions as those lavished on the Mole 

 or the Mouse. In short, the Necrophorus 

 has no exclusive preferences; anything putrid 

 he conveys underground. 



The maintenance of his industry, there- 

 fore, presents no sort of difficulty. If one 

 kind of game be lacking, some other, the first 

 to hand, will very well replace it. Nor is 

 there much trouble in fixing the site of his 

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