The Cionus 



captivate the eye, we should be wrong not 

 to take this magnificence into our reck- 

 oning. 



But far more important are the habits, 

 the ingenious devices, which give a real charm 

 to entomological study. Now it so happens 

 that among the insects it is the largest, the 

 most magnificent, that are generally the 

 most inefficient: a freak of nature that recurs 

 elsewhere. What can we expect of a Cara- 

 bus, all shimmering with metallic gleams? 

 Nothing but feasting amid the foam secre- 

 ted by a murdered snail. What can we ex- 

 pect of the Cetonia, who looks as though she 

 had escaped from a jeweller's show-case? 

 Nothing but drowsy slumbers in the heart of 

 a rose. These magnificoes cannot do any- 

 thing; they have no craft, no trade. 



If, on the contrary, we wish to see original 

 inventions, artistic masterpieces and ingen- 

 ious contrivances, we must apply to the hum- 

 ble creatures that are oftener than not un- 

 known to any one. And we must not allow 

 ourselves to be disgusted by the spots fre- 

 quented. Ordure has beautiful and curious 

 things in store for us, the like of which we 

 should never find on the rose. The Mino- 

 307 



