Author's Preface 



as the Provencal peasant watches it to this 

 day. 



No one fails to be surprised when he first 

 finds himself in the presence of the Scarab, 

 who, with his head down and his long hind- 

 legs in the air, pushes with might and main 

 his huge pill, the source of so many awkward 

 tumbles. Undoubtedly the simple fellah, on 

 beholding this spectacle, wondered what that 

 ball could be, what object the black creature 

 could have in rolling it along with such 

 vigour. The peasant of to-day asks himself 

 the same question. 



In the days of the Rameses and Thothmes, 

 superstition had something to say in the 

 matter; men saw in the rolling sphere an 

 image of the world performing its daily 

 revolution; and the Scarab received divine 

 honours : in memory of his ancient glory, he 

 continues the Sacred Beetle of the modern 

 naturalists. 



It is six or seven thousand years since the 

 curious pill-maker first got himself talked 

 about: are his habits thoroughly familiar to 

 us yet? Do we know the exact use for which 

 he intends his ball, do we know how he rears 

 his family? Not at all. The most authori- 

 tative works perpetuate the grossest errors 

 where he is concerned. 



