CHAPTER XIV 



THE SIMULATION OF DEATH 



THE first insect that we will put to the 

 question is that audacious disembowel- 

 ler, the savage Scarltes. To provoke his 

 state of inertia is a very simple matter: I 

 handle him for a moment, rolling him be- 

 tween my fingers; better still, I drop him on 

 the table, twice or thrice in succession, from 

 a small height. When the shock due to the 

 fall has been administered and, if need be, re- 

 peated, I turn the insect on its back. 



This is enough: the prostrate Beetle no 

 longer stirs, lies as though dead. The legs 

 are folded on the belly, the antennae ex- 

 tended like the arms of a cross, the pincers 

 open. A watch beside me tells me the exact 

 minute of the beginning and the end of the 

 experiment. Nothing remains but to wait 

 and especially to arm one's self with patience, 

 for the insect's immobility lasts long enough 

 to become tedious to the observer watching 

 for something to happen. 



The duration of the lifeless posture varies 

 greatly on the same day, under the same 

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