24 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



centre of the pear is full and consists of one continuous, 

 homogeneous alimentary mass. 



My deductions, which any observer in my place would 

 certainly have shared, seemed very reasonable ; the 

 Scarab, however, is of another way of thinking. We 

 have our logic, of which we are rather proud ; the Dung- 

 kneader has hers, which is better than ours in this contin- 

 gency. She has her own foresight, her own discernment 



of things ; and she places her 

 egg elsewhere. 



But where ? Why, in the 

 narrow part of the pear, in 

 the neck, right at the end. 

 /^•- ^ Let us cut this neck length- 



\ wise, taking the necessary pre- 



/ cautions, so as not to damage 



,f ■ the contents. It is hollowed 



I into a recess with polished 



/ and shiny walls. This is the 



* . / tabernacle of the germ, the 



X: hatching-chamber. The egg, 



^--^I___liii*»^ which is very large in propor- 



Fio. 1.— Section of the Sacred tion to the size of the layer, 



r„tu;e\^*h,t=l»f,b';.! '-' is a long white oval, about 



10 millimetres in length by 

 5 millimetres in its greatest width. ^ A slight empty 

 space separates it on all sides from the chamber-walls. 

 There is no contact with these walls, save at the rear 

 end, which adheres to the top of the recess. Lying hori- 

 zontally, following the normal position of the pear, the 

 whole of it, excepting the point of attachment, rests upon 

 an air-mattress, most elastic and warmest of beds. Let 



* "4 X '2 inches. — Translator's Note, 



