The Sacred Beetle and Others 



necessary provisions; they never came out to 

 dip into the replenished stock and enable 

 themselves to increase the always restricted 

 number of ovoids lying at the bottom of the 

 pot under the mother's watchful care. 



This limitation of the family might very 

 well be due partly to lack of space. Three 

 or four pills completely fill the burrow; there 

 is no room for more; and the mother, a stay- 

 at-home alike from duty and inclination, does 

 not dream of digging another dwelling. 

 It is true that greater breadth in the one 

 which she has would solve the problem of 

 room; but then a ceiling of excessive length 

 would be liable to collapse. Suppose I were 

 myself to intervene, suppose I provided space 

 without the risk of the roof falling in, could 

 there be an increase in the number of eggs? 



Yes, the number is almost doubled. My 

 trick is quite simple. In one of the glass 

 jars, I take away her three or four pills from 

 a mother who has just finished the last. 

 None of the loaf remains. I substitute for 

 it one of my own making, kneaded with the 

 tip of a paper-knife. A new type of baker, 

 I do over again very nearly what the insect 

 did at the beginning. Reader, do not smile 

 at my baking: science shall give it the odour 

 of sanctity. 



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