The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



shakes, swings, advances, recoils, first in one 

 direction, then in another, until in the end the 

 hillock of sand is crossed. Now we are free 

 of the brick and on excellent soil. Little by 

 little the load advances. This is no cartage 

 by a team hauling in the open, but a jerky 

 removal, the work of invisible levers. The 

 body seems to shift of its own accord. 



This time, after all those hesitations, the 

 efforts are concerted; at least, the load 

 reaches the region sounded far more rapidly 

 than I expected. Then begins the burial, 

 according to the usual method. It is one 

 o'clock. It has taken the Necrophori half- 

 way round the clock to ascertain the condi- 

 tion of the locality and to displace the Mouse. 



In this experiment it appears, in the first 

 place, that the males play a major part in 

 the affairs of the household. Better- 

 equipped, perhaps, than their mates, they 

 make investigations when a diflliculty occurs; 

 they inspect the soil, recognize whence the 

 check arises and choose the spot at which the 

 grave shall be dug. In the lengthy experi- 

 ment of the brick, the two males alone ex- 

 plored the surroundings and set to work to 

 solve the difliculty. Trusting her assistants, 

 the female, motionless beneath the Mouse, 

 awaited the result of their enquiries. The 

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