More Beetles 



themselves, to clothe themselves with it; 

 there will be some, we may be sure, that will 

 feast upon the Snake's cast scales. These 

 are the Tineae, the humble caterpillars of no 

 less humble Moths. 



Everything suits them in the way of ani- 

 mal clothing: bristles, hair, scales, horn, fur, 

 feather; but for their labours they need dark- 

 ness and repose. In the sunshine and bustle 

 of the open air they refuse the relics in my 

 pans; they wait until a gust of wind sweeps 

 the charnel-pits and carries the Mole's vel- 

 vety down or the reptile's parchment into a 

 shady corner. Then, infallibly, the cast-off 

 garments of the dead will disappear. As 

 for the bones, the atmospheric agencies, hav- 

 ing plenty of time, will crumble and disinte- 

 grate them in good time. 



If I wish to hasten the end of the epi- 

 dermic remains disdained by the Dermestes, 

 I have only to keep them in a dry place, in 

 the dark. Before long the Moth will come 

 to exploit them. They infest my house. I 

 had received the skin of a Rattlesnake from 

 Guiana. The horrible specimen, rolled into 

 a bundle, reached me intact, with its poison- 

 fangs, the mere sight of which makes one 

 shudder, and its alarm of rattling rings. In 

 58 



