II THE ENCLOSURE 35 



where vegetable fibres abound, and finally the out- 

 side of the ball is composed of the coarsest materials 

 felted together into a resistant shell. Manifestly there 

 is a progressive change of diet. On issuing from 

 the egg the feeble grub licks the fine paste on the 

 walls of its dwelling. There is but little of it, still 

 it is strengthening and of high nutritious value. To 

 the bottle of early infancy succeeds the pap of the 

 weanling, intermediate between the dainty fare of 

 the start and the coarse nourishment at the end. 

 This layer is thick enough and abundant enough 

 to make the maggot into a robust grub. Then, 

 strong food for the strong, barley bread with its 

 husks, raw dung full of sharp bits of hay. The 

 larva is superabundantly provisioned with it, and, 

 having attained its growth, comes to the imprisoning 

 outer layer. The capacity of the dwelling has increased 

 with that of its inhabitant. The small original 

 cavity with its excessively thick walls is now a large 

 cell with sides only a few lines thick. The inner 

 layers have turned into larva, nymph, or Scarabaeus, 

 as the case may be. In short, the ball is now a 

 shell, hiding within its spacious interior the mysteries 

 of metamorphosis. 



My observations go no further ; my certificates 

 of the birth and condition of the Scarabaeus do not 

 go beyond the egg ; I have not actually seen the 

 larva which, however, is known and described by 

 various authors. Neither have I seen the perfect 

 insect while yet enclosed in the cell, previous to 

 exercising its functions as ball-roller and excavator, 

 and that is exactly what I should most have 

 desired to see. I should have liked to find the 



