80 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



age by a team hauling in the open, but a jerky displace- 

 ment, the work of invisible levers. The body seems to 

 move of its own accord. 



This time, after so many hesitations, their efforts are 

 concerted; at all events, the load reaches the region 

 sounded far more rapidly than I expected. Then begins 

 the burial, according to the usual method. It is one 

 o'clock. The Necrophori have allowed the hour-hand 

 of the clock to go half round the dial while verifying the 

 condition of the surrounding spots and displacing the 

 Mouse. 



In this experiment it appears at the outset that the 

 males play a major part in the affairs of the household. 

 Better-equipped, perhaps, than their mates, they make 

 investigations when a difficulty occurs; they inspect the 

 soil, recognize whence the check arises and choose the 

 point at which the grave shall be made. In the lengthy 

 experiment of the brick, the two males alone explored 

 the surroundings and set to work to solve the difficulty. 

 Confiding in their assistance, the female, motionless be- 

 neath the Mouse, awaited the result of their investiga- 

 tions. The tests which are to follow will confirm the 

 merits of these valiant auxiliaries. 



In the second place, the point where the Mouse lay 

 being recognized as presenting an insurmountable resist- 

 ance, there was no grave dug in advance, a little farther 

 off, in the light soil. All attempts were limited, I repeat, 

 to shallow soundings which informed the insect of the 

 possibility of inhumation. 



It is absolute nonsense to speak of their first preparing 



