The Burying-Beetles: The Burial 



industry. A capacious wire-gauze cover, 

 resting on an earthen pan filled to the brim 

 with fresh, heaped sand, is sufficient. To 

 obviate criminal attempts on the part of the 

 Cats, whom the game would not fail to tempt, 

 the cage is installed in a closed glass-house, 

 which in winter shelters the plants and in 

 summer serves as an entomological labora- 

 tory. 



Now to work. The Mole lies in the cen- 

 tre of the enclosure. The soil, easily shifted 

 and homogeneous, realizes the best condi- 

 tions for comfortable work. Four Necro- 

 phori, three males and a female, are there 

 with the body. They remain invisible, hid- 

 den beneath the carcase, which from time to 

 time seems to return to life, shaken from 

 end to end by the backs of the workers. An 

 observer not in the secret would be somewhat 

 astonished to see the dead creature move. 

 From time to time, one of the sextons, al- 

 most always a male, comes out and walks 

 round the animal, which he explores, probing 

 its velvet coat. He hurriedly returns, ap- 

 pears again, once more investigates and 

 creeps back under the corpse. 



The tremors become more pronounced; 

 the carcase oscillates, while a cushion of sand, 

 pushed out from below, grows up all around 

 307 



