The Burying-Beetles: The Burial 



" The following case," he continues, " re- 

 corded by Gleditsch, 1 has also every indica- 

 tion of the intervention of reason. One of 

 his friends, wishing to desiccate a Frog, 

 placed it on the top of a stick thrust into the 

 ground, in order to make sure that the Necro- 

 phori should not come and carry it off. But 

 this precaution was of no effect; the insects, 

 being unable to reach the Frog, dug under 

 the stick and, having caused it to fall, buried 

 it as well as the body." 2 



To grant, in the intellect of the insect, a 

 lucid understanding of the relations between 

 cause and effect, between the end and the 

 means, is to make a statement of serious im- 

 port. I know of scarcely any more suited 

 to the philosophical brutalities of my time. 

 But are these two anecdotes really true ? Do 

 they involve the consequences deduced from 

 them? Are not those who accept them as 

 sound evidence just a little too simple? 



To be sure, simplicity is needed in ento- 

 mology. Without a good dose of this quali- 

 ty, a mental defect in the eyes of practical 

 folk, who would busy himself with the lesser 



1 Johan Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786), the German 

 botanist. Translator's Note. 



2 Suites a Buff on. Introduction a I'entomologie, vol. 

 ii., pp. 460-61. Author's Note. 

 299 



