The Sacred Beetle and Others 



far-off cell food enough for even a single 

 day: that would be to carry load after load 

 on the wing, each load being proportionate 

 to his strength. But what a number of 

 journeys that would involve ! What a lot 

 of time would be wasted in this piecemeal 

 harvesting! Besides, when he went back, 

 ■would he not find the table already cleared? 

 Think of the numiber of guests who were 

 giving it their attention ! The opportunity 

 is a good one; it may not occur again for a 

 long while. We must make the most of 

 it without delay; the thing to do is to secure 

 enough now to stock our larder for at least 

 a day. 



But how to set about it? Nothing could 

 be simpler. What we cannot carry we 

 drag; what we cannot drag we cart by 

 rolling it along, as witness all our wheeled 

 conveyances. The Sacred Beetle therefore 

 chooses the sphere as a means of transport. 

 It is the best shape of all for rolling; it needs 

 no axle-tree; it adapts itself admirably to the 

 diverse inequalities of the ground and, at each 

 point of its surface, provides the necessary 

 leverage for the least expenditure of effort. 

 Such is the mechanical problem which the 

 pill-roller solves. The spherical form of his 

 treasure is not the effect of the rolling: it 



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