84 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



materials. A similar lime- wash is observed in the nest 

 which the Sacred Beetle, the Copris, the Sisyphus, the 

 Geotrupe and other makers of stercoraceous preserves 

 contrive in the very heart of the provisions, to receive the 

 egg ; but nowhere have I seen it so plentiful, in propor- 

 tion, as in the hatching-chamber of the Onthophagus. 

 Long puzzled by this brothy wash, of which the Sacred 

 Beetle provided me with the first instance, I began by 

 taking the thing for a layer of moisture oozing from the 

 bulk of the victuals and collecting on the surface of the 

 enclosure without other effort than capillary action. That 

 was the interpretation which I accepted originally. 



I was wrong. The truth is worthy of attention in a 

 very different way. To-day, better-informed by the 

 Onthophagus, I know that this lime-wash itself, this 

 semi-fluid cream, is the product of maternal foresight. 



What, then, is this lime- wash found in every cell ? 

 The answer is compulsory : it is a produce of the mother, 

 a special gruel, a milk-food elaborated for the benefit 

 of the new-born grub. 



The young Pigeon puts his beak into that of his parents, 

 who, with convulsive efforts, force down his gullet first a 

 caseous mash secreted in the crop and next a broth of 

 grains softened by being partially digested. He is fed 

 upon disgorged foods, which are helpful to the weaknesses 

 of an inexperienced stomach. The grub of the Ontho- 

 phagus is brought up hi much the same way, at the start. 

 To assist its first attempts at swallowing, the mother pre- 

 pares for it, in her crop, a light and strengthening cream. 



To pass the dainty from mouth to mouth is, in her 

 case, impossible : the construction of other cells keeps 

 her busy elsewhere. Moreover and this is a more serious 

 detail the laying takes place egg by egg, at very long 



