The Gymnopleuri 



made is in existence at the bottom of the pot. 



I now intervene and turn the pot upside 

 down. Everything is topsy-turvy; the en- 

 trance gallery and the terminal hall dis- 

 appear. I extract the mother and the pellet 

 from the ruins. Once more the pot is filled 

 with earth; and the same test begins all over 

 again. A few hours are enough to restore 

 the courage shaken by all this upheaval. 

 For the second time, the mother buries her- 

 self with the heap of provisions destined for 

 the grub. For the second time also, when 

 the estabhshment is finished, the overturning 

 of the pot unsettles everything. The experi- 

 ment is renewed. Persisting in its maternal 

 sohcitude, if necessary until its strength gives 

 way, the insect again buries itself together 

 with its sphere. 



Four times over, in two days, I have thus 

 seen the mother Beetle bear up under the 

 devastation which I have wrought and start 

 afresh, with touching patience, on the ruined 

 dwelling. I did not think fit to pursue the 

 test. You feel some scruples in submit- 

 ting maternal affection to such tribulations 

 as these. However, it seems probable that, 

 sooner or later, the exhausted and bewildered 

 insect would have refused to go on digging. 



My experiments of this kind are numer- 



