The Sacred Beetle and Others 



weights; even so might the Scarab be 

 crippled in rolling his ball, an enormous load 

 to him. In that case his maimed arms 

 would be a noble testimony to his industrious 

 life. 



But straightway grave doubts begin to 

 assail us. If these mutilations were really 

 accidental and the result of too strenuous 

 work, they would be the exception, not the 

 rule. Because a workman or several work- 

 men have had a hand caught and crushed in 

 a machine, it does not follow that all the 

 rest will also lose their hands. If the 

 Scarab sometimes, or even very frequently, 

 loses his fore-fingers in pursuing his trade as 

 a pill-roller, there must be some at least who, 

 more fortunate or more skilful, have 

 preserved their tarsi. Let us then consult 

 the actual facts. I have observed in very 

 large numbers the various species of 

 Scarahaei that inhabit France : Scarahaeus 

 sacer, who is common In Provence; S. 

 semipunctatiis, who keeps fairly close to the 

 sea and frequents the sandy shores of Cette, 

 Palavas and the Golfe Juan; lastly, S. 

 latkolUs, who is much more widely dis- 

 tributed than either of the others and is 

 found up the Rhone Valley at least as far 

 as Lyons. In addition, I have studied an 

 56 



