The Sacred Beetle and Others 



absolute darkness for her modelling; and I 

 need light If I would see her at her task. It 

 Is Impossible to unite the two conditions. 

 Let us try, nevertheless; let us catch some 

 glimpses of the truth whose fulness eludes 

 our vision. 



The arrangements made are as follows. 

 I once more take the big jar. I cover the 

 bottom with a layer of earth two or three 

 Inches deep. To obtain the transparent 

 workshop necessary for my observations, I 

 fix a tripod on the earthy layer and, on 

 this support, about four Inches In height, 

 I place a round piece of deal of the same 

 diameter as the jar. The glass-walled 

 chamber thus marked out will represent the 

 roomy crypt In which the Insect works. A 

 piece Is scolloped out of the edge of the deal 

 block, large enough to permit of the passage 

 of the Beetle and her ball. Lastly, above 

 this screen, I heap a layer of earth as deep 

 as the jar allows. 



During the operation, a portion of the 

 upper earth falls through the opening and 

 shps down to the lower space In a wide 

 inclined plane. This was a circumstance 

 which I had foreseen and which was in- 

 dispensable to my plan. By means of this 

 slope, the artist, when she has found the 



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