The Sacred Beetle and Others 



earlier interpretations entirely. Her egg is 

 not enclosed in a hollow inside the victuals 

 whose emanations might explain its growth; 

 it is outside the sausage, a good way under- 

 neath, surrounded by sand on every side; and 

 nevertheless it increases in size just as well 

 ■as those lodged in a succulent cabin. 



Moreover, the new-born grub surprises 

 me by its chubbiness; it is seven or eight 

 times as big as the egg whence it comes; the 

 contents vastly exceed the capacity of the 

 container. Besides, before touching the 

 food from which it is separated by a ceiling 

 of sand, the grub for a certain time con- 

 tinues its strange growing, as though new 

 materials were being added to those which 

 came out of the egg. 



Here, in the dry sand, it is impossible to 

 talk of effluvia capable of providing the 

 wherewithal for the grub to wax big and fat. 

 Then to what do both the egg and the new- 

 born grub owe their growth? The Langue- 

 docian Scorpion ^ gives us an excellent clue. 

 When passing from a sort of larval stage 

 to the final form, which is the same as that 



1 Cf. The Life and Love of the Insect: chap9. xyii. and 

 xviii. The seven essays on the Languedocian Scorpion will 

 be included in the last volume of this complete edition of 

 Fabre's entomological works. — Translator's Note. 



398 



