The Dung-Beetles of the Pampas 



Here is another of these artists of the 

 pampas. All black and as big as the largest 

 of our Onthophagi, 1 whom she greatly re- 

 sembles in general build, Canthon bispinus 

 is likewise an exploiter of dead bodies, if not 

 always on her own behalf, at least on that of 

 her offspring. 



She introduces very original innovations 

 into the pill-maker's art. Her work, strewn 

 like the aforementioned with finger-prints, is 

 the pilgrim's gourd, the double-bellied gourd. 

 Of the two stories, which are joined together 

 by a fairly plainly-marked groove, the upper 

 is the smaller and contains the egg in an in- 

 cubating-chamber; the lower and bulkier is 

 the food-stack. 



Imagine the Sisyphus' little pear with its 

 hatching-chamber swollen into a globule a 

 trifle smaller than the sphere at the other 

 end; suppose the two protuberances to be 

 divided by a sort of wide open groove like 

 that of a pulley; and we shall have something 

 very like the Canthon's work in shape and 

 size. 



When placed on burning charcoal, this 

 double-bellied gourd turns black, becomes 

 covered with shiny warts that look like jet 



i Cf. The Sacred Beetle and Others: chaps, xi. xvii., 

 and xviii. — Translator's Note. 

 261 



