A Scientific Slaughterer 



to say, those whose thoracic ganglia are some 

 distance apart, the effect of the ammonia is 

 quite different. The least vulnerable are the 

 Ground-beetles. A puncture which would 

 have produced instant annihilation of move- 

 ment in a large Sacred Beetle produces no- 

 thing but violent and disordered convulsions 

 in the medium-sized Ground-Beetles, be they 

 Chlaenius, Nebria or Calathus. Little by 

 little, the insect quiets down and, after a few 

 hours' rest, its usual movements are resumed 

 as though it had met with no accident what- 

 ever. If we repeat the experiment on the 

 same specimen, twice, thrice or four times 

 over, the results remain the same, until the 

 wound becomes too serious and the insect 

 actually dies, as is proved by its desiccation 

 and putrefaction, which follows soon after. 

 The Melasoma-beetlesandLongicornes are 

 more sensitive to the action of the ammonia. 

 The injection of the corrosive drop pretty 

 quickly renders them motionless; and, after 

 a few convulsions, the insect seems dead. 

 But this paralysis, which would have per- 

 sisted in the Dung-beetles, the Weevils and 

 the Buprestes, is only temporary here: 

 within a day, motion is once more apparent, 

 as energetic as ever. It is only when the 

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