THE SACRED BEETLE 31 



strictly needful has been obtained ; but it is very ugly. 

 The practical has not troubled about the beautiful. 



An artist corrects the brute work of reason. He re- 

 places the cylinder by a semi-ellipsoid, of a much prettier 

 form ; he joins this ellipsoid to the sphere by means of 

 a graceful curved surface ; and the whole becomes the 

 pear, the necked gourd. It is now a, work of art, a thing 

 of beauty. 



The Scarab does exactly what the laws of aesthetics 

 dictate to ourselves. Can she, too, have a sense of 

 beauty ? Is she able to appreciate the elegance of her 

 pear ? Certainly, she does not see it : she manipulates 

 it in profound darkness. But she touches it. A poor 

 touch hers, rudely clad in horn, yet not insensible, after 

 all, to nicely-drawn outlines ! 



