30 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



vary in form, as we shall have occasion to perceive : 

 in addition to the pear, such shapes as the cylinder, the 

 ovoid, the pill and the thimble are adopted, according to 

 the species of the manipulator ; but, amid this diversity 

 of outline, one feature of the first importance remains 

 constant, which is the egg lodged in a hatching-chamber 

 close to the surface, providing an excellent means for 

 the easy access of air and warmth. And the most 

 gifted in this delicate art is the Sacred Beetle with her 

 pear. 



I was urging just now that this first of Dung-kneaders 

 behaved with a logic that rivals our own. At the point 

 to which we have come, the proof of my statement is es- 

 tablished. Nay, better still. Let us submit the following 

 problem to our leading scientific lights : a germ is accom- 

 panied by a mass of victuals liable soon to be rendered 

 useless by desiccation. How should the alimentary mass 

 be shaped ? Where should the egg be laid so as to be 

 easily influenced by air and warmth ? 



The first question of the problem has already been 

 answered. Knowing that evaporation is in proportion 

 to the extent of the evaporating surface, science declares 

 that the victuals shall be arranged in a ball, because 

 the spherical form is that which encloses the greatest 

 amount of material within the smallest surface. As for 

 the egg, since it requires a protecting sheath to avoid any 

 harmful contact, it shall be contained within a thin, 

 cylindrical case ; and this case shall be implanted on the 

 sphere. 



Thus the requisite conditions are fulfilled : the pro- 

 visions, gathered into a ball, keep fresh ; the egg, pro- 

 tected by its slender, cylindrical sheath, receives the 

 influence of air and warmth without impediment. The 



