24 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



centre of the pear is full and consists of one continuous, 

 homogeneous alimentary mass. 



My deductions, which any observer in my place would 

 certainly have shared, seemed very reasonable ; the 

 Scarab, however, is of another way of thinking. We 

 have our logic, of which we are rather proud ; the Dung- 

 kneader has hers, which is better than ours hi this contin- 

 gency. She has her own foresight, her own discernment 

 of things ; and she places her 

 egg elsewhere. 



But where ? Why, in the 

 narrow part of the pear, in 

 the neck, right at the end. 

 Let us cut this neck length- 

 wise, taking the necessary pre- 

 cautions, so as not to damage 

 the contents. It is hollowed 

 into a recess with polished 

 and shiny walls. This is the 

 tabernacle of the germ, the 

 hatching-chamber. The egg, 

 which is very large in propor- 

 tion to the size of the layer, 

 is a long white oval, about 

 10 millimetres in length by 

 5 millimetres in its greatest width. 1 A slight empty 

 space separates it on all sides from the chamber-walls. 

 There is no contact with these walls, save at the rear 

 end, which adheres to the top of the recess. Lying hori- 

 zontally, following the normal position of the pear, the 

 whole of it, excepting the point of attachment, rests upon 

 an air-mattress, most elastic and warmest of beds. Let 

 1 '4 x '2 inches. Translator's Note. 



FIG. 1. Section of the Sacred 

 Beetle's pill, showing the egg 

 and the hatching-chamber. 



