The Sacred Beetle and Others 



which, elaborated in a less dry intestine, is 

 fashioned into a single flat cake. This is 

 the material required, the dough exclusively 

 used. It is no longer the poor and stringy 

 produce of the Horse, but an unctuous, 

 plastic, homogeneous thing, soaked through 

 and through with nutritive juices. Its 

 plasticity and delicacy make it an admirable 

 medium for an artistic piece of work like 

 the Scarab's pear, while its alimentary 

 qualities suit the weak stomach of the new- 

 born grub. There may not be much of it, 

 but the infant Beetle will find it sufficient for 

 his needs. 



This explains the smallness of these pears, 

 a point which made me suspicious of the 

 origin of my treasure until I found the 

 mother present with the provisions. I was 

 unable to see in those little pears the bill of 

 fare of a future Sacred Beetle, who Is so 

 great a glutton and of so remarkable a 

 size. 



It probably also explains my failure In the 

 old days with my cages. In my profound 

 ignorance of the Sacred Beetle's domestic 

 life, I used to supply her with what I could 

 pick up here and there, droppings of Horse 

 or Mule; and the Beetle refused It for her 

 children and declined to build a nest. To- 



