The Dwarfs 



tained some slight modifications of size, to 

 which the terms giant and dwarf could not, 

 however, be applied; still less did I succeed 

 in changing the sex, whose determination 

 does not in any way depend upon the quan- 

 tity of food supplied. The Bees and Wasps 

 are not suited to my present purpose. Their 

 grubs are too delicately constituted. What 

 I want is sturdy stomachs capable of endur- 

 ing severe ordeals. I shall find them in the 

 Dung-beetles, notably in the Sacred Beetle, 

 whose natural portliness will facilitate our 

 appreciation of any change of bulk. 



The big pill-roller calculates the food of 

 her larvae precisely: each grub has its loaf, 

 kneaded into the shape of a pear. All these 

 loaves are not strictly equal; some are larger 

 and some smaller, but the difference is only 

 minute. Perhaps these slight inequalities 

 are connected with the sex of the nurslings, 

 as among the Bees and Wasps; the females 

 would receive the larger and the males the 

 smaller rations. I did not take any steps to 

 verify this theory. No matter: the fact re- 

 mains that the Sacred Beetle's pear is, in the 

 mother's opinion, a convenient individual 

 ration. As for me, I can, if I please, alter 

 243 



