The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



overlapping superfluity in front drops off of 

 its own weight at the same time. The coat 

 of dung is under continual repair, being reno- 

 vated and lengthened at one end as it wears 

 and grows shorter at the other. 



Sometimes also the stuff is too thick and 

 the heap capsizes. The denuded grub recks 

 nothing of the lost overcoat; its obliging in- 

 testine repairs the disaster without delay. 



Whether by reason of the clipping that 

 results from the excessive length of a piece 

 which is always on the loom, or of accidents 

 that cause a part or the whole of the load to 

 fall off, the grub of the Crioceris leaves 

 accumulations of dirt in its track, till the 

 lily, the symbol of purity, becomes a very 

 cess-pool. When the leaves have been 

 browsed, the stem next loses its cuticle, 

 thanks to the nibbling of the grub, and is re- 

 duced to a ragged distaff. The flowers even, 

 which have opened by now, are not spared: 

 their beautiful ivory chalices are changed 

 into latrines. 



The perpetrator of the misdeed embarks 

 on his career of defilement early. I wanted 

 to see him start, to watch him lay the first 

 course of his excremental masonry. Does 

 he serve an apprenticeship? Does he work 

 badly at first, then a little better and then 

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