The Sacred Beetle and Others 



If the curved compasses play but a 

 secondary part in the matter and perhaps no 

 part at all, what is the guiding principle of 

 this sphericity? If one merely took into 

 consideration the insect's organism and the 

 circumstances in which the work is done, I see 

 absolutely none. We must go back farther, 

 we must go back to the innate genius, the 

 instinct that guides the tool. The Scarab 

 has a natural gift for making spheres just 

 as the Hive-bee has a natural gift for making 

 hexagonal prisms. Both achieve geometri- 

 cal perfection in their work and are indepen- 

 dent of any special mechanism which would 

 force upon them the particular shape attained. 



For the time being, keep this in mind: the 

 Sacred Beetle makes his ball by placing next 

 to each other armful after armful of the 

 materials which he has collected; he builds 

 it up without moving it, without turning it 

 round. He fashions the dung with the pre- 

 ssure of his fore-arms as the modeller in our 

 studios fashions his clay with the pressure of 

 his thumb. And the result is not an ap- 

 proximate sphere, with a lumpy surface; it 

 is a perfect sphere, with our human manu- 

 facturers would not disown. 



The time has come for retiring with the 

 booty so that we may bury it farther away, 

 64 



