More Beetles 



I am inclined to believe that this work 

 of assembling the component parts is per- 

 formed in the slightly sloping vestibule which 

 usually precedes the perpendicular shaft. 

 Here no doubt the successive clods are com- 

 pressed into one very heavy cylinder, which 

 is yet easily moved along an almost hori- 

 zontal road. Then the Minotaur, with a 

 last thrust of his trident, pushes out the lump, 

 which joins the others on the sides of the 

 mound. They are like so many blocks of 

 hewn stone forbidding access to the home. 

 The rubbish thus suitably moulded provides 

 a Cyclopean system of fortification. 



In the glass tube, the climbing is such 

 difficult work that the insect is soon dis- 

 couraged. The frail footholds left by the 

 load crumble and fall off, swept away by the 

 tarsi vainly seeking a support; and the tube 

 again becomes smooth over wide extents of 

 its surface. The climber ends by giving up 

 struggling against the impossible; he aban- 

 dons his bundle and drops to the bottom. 

 The works cease henceforth; the couple 

 have recognized the treachery of their 

 strange dwelling. Both of them try to get 

 away. Their uneasiness is betrayed by con- 

 tinual attempts to escape. I set them free. 



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