232 INSECT ARTIZANS AND THEIR WORK 



etc. True, but Nature's sanitary commission would 

 reply that there is still much to be done. The 

 annoying fly would not be about the house were 

 there no refuse-heaps near by that its grubs are 

 striving to reduce in bulk. The " blue-bottle " 

 would not trouble to enter but for the dead animal 

 remains in the shape of "joints," poultry, and fish 

 in our larder. Nature's edict is that all effete 

 matter must be reduced to an inoffensive condition. 



It were idle to attempt an enumeration of the 

 insects that are engaged in this work : their name 

 is legion, and they serve in various branches of the 

 work. Looking beyond the walls of the cities, out 

 in the open spaces, not merely of our own country, 

 but the vast thinly populated and unpopulated 

 areas of the world, we see these small sanitary officers 

 pursuing their vocation and keeping the world 

 sweet. But for them it would be uninhabitable. 

 The dead trees and herbs, dead beasts and birds, 

 the dung of innumerable animals, all would en- 

 cumber the surface, and take so long to disintegrate 

 by mere atmospheric influence that the higher 

 forms of life must soon cease to be. 



But no sooner does any of this worn-out material 

 fall than these sanitary officers and scavengers 

 become aware of the fact by sight, scent, or other 

 means, and adopt measures for its removal. Some 

 eat it where they find it, others bury it in the 

 earth as a preliminary to being eaten by themselves 

 and their offspring. Some of these we have already 

 dealt with under the head of miners — the Scarabs 



