BURYING-BEETLES: EXPERIMENTS 93 



Difficult, yes, but not impossible, provided that the 

 Mouse be young. I begin again with a ligature of iron 

 wire, on which the shears of the insect can obtain no 

 purchase, and a tender Mouselet, half the size of an adult. 

 This time a tibia is gnawed through, cut in two by the 

 Beetle's mandibles near the spring of the heel. The de- 

 tached member leaves plenty of space for the other, which 

 readily slips from the metallic band; and the little body 

 falls to the ground. 



But, if the bone be too hard, if the body suspended be 

 that of a Mole, an adult Mouse, or a Sparrow, the wire 

 ligament opposes an insurmountable obstacle to the at- 

 tempts of the Necrophori, who, for nearly a week, work 

 at the hanging body, partly stripping it of fur or feather 

 and disheveling it until it forms a lamentable object, and 

 at last abandon it, when dessication sets in. A last re- 

 source, however, remains, one as rational as infallible. 

 It is to overthrow the stake. Of course, not one dreams 

 of doing so. 



For the last time let us change our artifices. The top 

 of the gibbet consists of a little fork, with the prongs 

 widely opened and measuring barely two-fifths of an inch 

 in length. With a thread of hemp, less easily attacked 

 than a strip of raphia, I bind together, a little above the 

 heels, the hind-legs of an adult Mouse ; and between the 

 legs I slip one of the prongs of the fork. To make 

 the body fall it is enough to slide it a little way upwards ; 

 it is like a young Rabbit hanging in the front of a poul- 

 terer's shop. 



Five Necrophori come to inspect my preparations. 



