The Simulation of Death 



I evaporate a few drops of sulphuric ether 

 in a glass jar and put in a Stercoraceous 

 Geotrupes and a specimen of Buprestis 

 tenebr'ionis, at the same time. In a few 

 moments both subjects are motionless, anaes- 

 thetized by the etheric vapour. I take them 

 out quickly and lay them on their backs in 

 the open air. 



Their attitude is exactly that which they 

 would have assumed under the influence of a 

 shock or any other cause of alarm. The 

 Buprestis has his legs symmetrically folded 

 against his chest and belly; the Geotrupes has 

 his outspread, stretched in disorder, rigid 

 and as though attacked by catalepsy. You 

 could not tell if they were dead or alive. 



They are not dead. In a minute or two, 

 the Geotrupes' tarsi twitch, the palpi quiver, 

 the antennae wave gently to and fro. Then 

 the fore-legs move; and a quarter of an hour 

 has not elapsed before the other legs are 

 struggling. The activity of the insect made 

 motionless by the concussion of a shock would 

 reawaken in precisely the same fashion. 



As for the Buprestis, he is in a state of 

 inertia so profound that at first I really be- 

 lieve him to be dead. He recovers during 

 the night; and next day I find him in possess- 

 ion of his usual activity. The ether experi- 

 385 



