The Pelopasus 



anything* that came to hand, even down to 

 the pile of account-books in which the ex- 

 cisemen registered their troublesome in- 

 spections of the proof-spirit. One of these, 

 situated quite close to the still, was tested 

 with the thermometer. It measured 113 

 of heat. 



These few data prove that the larvae of 

 the Pelopaeus are comfortable in a tempera- 

 ture of a hundred degrees or over, a tem- 

 perature not accidental, like that produced 

 by a fire blazing in a chimney, but con- 

 stant, such as obtained by a boiler or a still. 

 Tropical heat is favourable to the grub 

 slumbering for ten months in its mud hole. 

 Any seed, in order to sprout, needs a cer- 

 tain quantum of heat, greater or smaller 

 according to its kind. The larva, a sort 

 of animal seed out of which the perfect in- 

 sect will come by a process of germination 

 even more wonderful than that which turns 

 an acorn into an oak, the larva also claims 

 its quantum of heat. The larva of the 

 Pelopaeus can cheerfully endure a temper- 

 ature that makes the baobab or the oily 

 palm-tree sprout. What then is the origin 

 of this chilly tribe? 



A good fire on the hearth, a boiler or 

 a furnace shedding an artificial tropical 

 71 



