70 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



undertake anything under conditions of light, however 

 softly modulated. It demands complete obscurity, 

 which I produce by means of a cardboard box encasing 

 the cy Under. By carefully raising this box a little ; I 

 am able, presently, when I feel inclined, to surprise the 

 captive at her work and even to follow her doings for a 

 time. The method, the reader will see, is much simpler 

 than that which I used when I wished to see the Sacred 

 Beetle engaged in modelling her pear. The easier-going 

 mood of the Copris lends itself to this simplification, 

 which would be none too successful with the other. A 

 dozen of these eclipsed apparatus are thus arranged on 

 the large table in the laboratory. Any one seeing the 

 set would take them for an assortment of groceries in 

 whity-brown paper bags. 



For darkness, I use flower-pots filled with fresh, heaped 

 sand. The mother and her cake occupy the lower 

 portion, which is arranged as a nest by means of a card- 

 board screen forming a ceiling and supporting the sand 

 above. Or else I simply put the mother on the surface 

 of the sand with a supply of provisions. She digs herself 

 a burrow, does her warehousing, makes herself a nest 

 and things happen as usual. In all cases, a sheet of 

 glass used as a lid answers for my prisoners' safety. 

 I rely upon these several dark apparatus to inform me 

 about a delicate point the particulars whereof will be 

 set forth in their proper place. 



What do the glass jars covered with an opaque sheath 

 teach us ? They teach us much, of a most interesting 

 character, and this to begin with : the big loaf does not 

 owe its curve which is always regular, notwithstanding 

 its varying form to any rolling process. The inspection 

 of the natural burrow has already told us that so large 



