More Beetles 



legs bereft of that one finger, the five-jointed 

 tarsus, which In Itself represents the Insect's 

 hand? Why a stump, a docked limb. Instead 

 of a fingered extremity, as Is the rule every 

 otherwise? One reply suggests itself which 

 at first seems rather plausible. Those zeal- 

 ous pUl-rollers push their load backwards, 

 with their head down and their hinder-part 

 in the air; they support themselves on the 

 tips of their fore-legs. The whole effort of 

 the transportation is brought to bear on the 

 extremities of these two levers, which are in 

 constant contact with the rough ground. 



A delicate finger, liable to be sprained un- 

 der such conditions, would be a hindrance, 

 wherefore the plU-maker decided to do with- 

 out it. How and when was the mutilation 

 effected? Does it occur nowadays, as a 

 workshop accident, during the actual work? 

 No, for you never see a Scarab furnished 

 with tarsi to his fore-legs, however new he 

 may be at his trade; no, for the nymph, lying 

 perfectly at rest in its shell, has fingerless 

 fore-arms like the adult. 



The mutilation dates farther back. Sup- 

 pose we admit that, in the dim and distant 

 ages, a Scarab, owing to some mishap, lost 

 those two inconvenient and almost super- 

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