THE SACRED BEETLE 25 



us observe also that the top of the nipple, instead of 

 being smooth and compact like the rest of the pear, is 

 formed of a felt of particles of scrapings, which allows the 

 air sufficient access for the breathing-needs of the egg. 



We are now informed. Let us next try to understand 

 the Scarab's logic. Let us account for the necessity 

 for the pear, that form so strange in entomological 

 industry ; let us seek to explain the convenience of 

 the curious situation of the egg. It is dangerous, I 

 know, to venture upon the how and wherefore of 

 things. We easily sink in this mysterious domain where 

 the moving soil gives way beneath the feet, swallowing 

 the foolhardy in the quicksands of error. Must we 

 abandon such excursions, because of the risk ? Why 

 should we ? 



What does our science, so sublime compared with the 

 frailty of our means, so contemptible in the face of the 

 boundless spaces of the unknown, what does our science 

 know of absolute reality ? Nothing. The world interests 

 us only because of the ideas which we form of it. Remove 

 the idea and everything becomes sterile, chaos, empty 

 nothingness. An omnium-gatherum of facts is not know- 

 ledge, but at most a cold catalogue which we must thaw 

 and quicken at the fire of the mind ; we must introduce 

 thought and the light of reason ; we must interpret. 



Let us adopt this course to explain the work of the 

 Sacred Beetle. Perhaps we shall end by attributing our 

 own logic to the insect. After all, it will be just as re- 

 markable to see a wonderful agreement prevail between 

 that which reason dictates to us and that which instinct 

 dictates to the animal. 



A grave danger threatens the Sacred Beetle in its grub 

 state : the drying-up of the food. The crypt in which 



4 



