More Beetles 



we have little hope of ever solving the 

 problem. 



Let us, to begin with, mention a few of 

 these infractions of the rule. Among the 

 strangest that my chance discoveries have 

 submitted to my scrutiny is that of the larva 

 of the Geotrupes. When I made its acquaint- 

 ance for the first time, the crippled grub had 

 attained very nearly its full growth. One 

 might reasonably ask one's self whether cer- 

 tain hardships endured during its lifetime 

 had not gradually brought about the weak- 

 ness of the hind-legs and their abnormal posi- 

 tion; whether, at all events, the curious de- 

 formity might not be explained by the grub's 

 cramped situation in a narrow corridor in the 

 heart of its food-supply. 



Today I am better-informed. The Geo- 

 trupes' larva does not gradually become lame 

 through straining itself; it is born crippled, 

 there is no doubt of that. I observe its 

 hatching. I watch the new-born grub 

 through my magnifying-glass as it leaves the 

 egg. The hind-legs which the adult Beetle 

 uses as powerful squeezers for pressing the 

 material which he has gathered and making 

 it into sausages are for the moment reduced 

 to the sorriest of appendages, mere useless 

 256 



