The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



it. The Mole, by reason of his own weight 

 and the efforts of the grave-diggers, who are 

 labouring at their task underneath, gradu- 

 ally sinks, for lack of support, into the un- 

 dermined soil. 



Presently the sand which has been pushed 

 out quivers under the thrust of the invisible 

 miners, slips into the pit and covers the in- 

 terred Mole. It is a clandestine burial. 

 The body seems to disappear of itself, as 

 though engulfed by a fluid medium. For a 

 long time yet, until the depth is regarded as 

 sufficient, the body will continue to descend. 



It is, on the whole, a very simple opera- 

 tion. As the diggers below deepen the cav- 

 ity into which the corpse, shaken and tugged 

 above, sinks without the direct intervention 

 of the sextons, the grave fills of itself by the 

 mere slipping of the soil. Stout shovels at 

 the tips of their claws, powerful backs, ca- 

 pable of creating a little earthquake: the 

 diggers need nothing more for the practice 

 of their profession. Let us add — for this 

 is an essential point — the art of continually 

 jerking the body, so as to pack it into a lesser 

 volume and make it glide through difficult 

 passages. We shall soon see that this art 

 plays a leading part in the industry of the Ne- 

 crophori. 



308 



