THE BURYING BEETLE. 319 



latter fringed at the sides and articulations with yellowish 

 hairs ; the antennae knobbed and foliate at the tips. 



We must inquire now into the " burying beetle's " motive 

 of incitement to its laborious occupation of interment. It is 

 not certainly the promotion of our sanitary benefit that the 

 creature has in view ; neither, we suppose, has respect for the 

 dead or their families much to do with its burial of animal re- 

 mains. The incentive to the work is not to be found in mere 

 love of labour, nor yet in love of self, but is, in fact, like the 

 mainspring of various other insect actions, of a parental charac- 

 ter. Its eggs being first committed to the carcase, the beetle 

 then proceeds to commit that to the earth, in order that, thus 

 protected from predatory birds and foxes, it may afford provi- 

 sion for her young, as soon as, in the shape of larvae, they come 

 into existence. This most curious practice of instinctive saga- 

 city was first noticed by a foreign naturalist, M. Gleditsch, 

 who, having observed the mysterious disappearance of moles, 

 laid upon the beds in his garden, discovered that beetles were 

 the agents of their inhumation, effected for the purpose above 

 named. To watch their proceedings more narrowly, he put 

 four of these insect grave-diggers into a glass vessel, half filled 

 with earth, on the surface of which were laid two dead frogs. 

 Of these, one was interred in less than twelve hours the 

 other on the third day. He then introduced a cjead linnet, on 

 which the beetles were speedily engaged. The^ began their 

 operations by pushing out the earth from under the body, so 

 as to form a cavity for its reception : and it was curious to see 

 the efforts which they made, by dragging from below at the 

 feathers of the bird, to pull it into its grave. The male, having 

 driven the female away, continued to work alone for five 

 hours. He lifted up the bird, changed its place, turned and 

 arranged it in its grave, from time to time coming out of the 

 hole, mounting on the carcase, treading it underfoot, and then 

 again retiring below to draw it to a greater depth. At length, 

 wearied apparently with this incessant labour, he came forth 



