The Sacred Beetle and Others 



has made the Geotruplan paterfamilias Into 

 a worker devoted to his children's welfare. 

 And this is as much as our investigations tell 

 us. To pursue the problem would be a vain 

 endeavour. The origin of faculties escapes 

 us. Why is this gift bestowed here and that 

 gift there? Who knows? Can we indeed 

 ever hope to know? 



One point alone stands out clearly : instinct 

 is not dependent on structure. 



The Geotrupes have been known from 

 time immemorial; conscientious entomolo- 

 gists, peering through their magnifying- 

 .glasses, have examined them down to their 

 smallest details; and no one has yet suspected 

 their marvellous privilege of keeping house in 

 common. Above the monotonous level of 

 the ocean suddenly emerge the headlands of 

 lonely little islands, scattered here and there, 

 whose existence none can suspect until geo- 

 graphy has added them to her charts. Even 

 so do the peaks of instinct rear their crests 

 above the ocean of life. 



316 



