The Burying-Beetles : Experiments 



tern of suspension adopted, the push of the 

 back, employed in all cases of difficulty, was 

 brought to bear first upon the point of sup- 

 port; and the fall resulted from this happy 

 coincidence. That point, which has to be 

 slipped along the peg in order to unhook the 

 object, ought really to be placed at a short 

 distance from the Mouse, so that the Necro- 

 phori may no longer feel her directly on 

 their backs when they push. 



A wire binds together now the claws of 

 a Sparrow, now the heels of a Mouse and is 

 bent, three-quarters of an inch farther away, 

 into a little ring, which slips very loosely 

 over one of the prongs of the fork, a short, 

 almost horizontal prong. The least push of 

 this ring is enough to bring the hanging body 

 to the ground; and because it stands out it 

 lends itself excellently to the insect's methods. 

 In short, the arrangement is the same as 

 just now, with this difference, that the point 

 of support is at a short distance from the 

 animal hung up. 



My trick, simple though it be, is quite 

 successful. For a long time the body is re- 

 peatedly shaken, but in vain; the tibiae, the 

 hard claws refuse to yield to the patient saw. 

 Sparrows and Mice grow dry and shrivel, 

 unused, upon the gallows. My Necrophori, 



343 



