The Sacred Beetle: the Pear 



soon dries and acquires a stout crust which 

 refuses to yield to the pressure of the 

 fingers. Wood itself is no harder. This 

 rind is the defensive wrapper that isolates 

 the recluse from the world and allows him 

 to consume his victuals in profound peace. 

 But, should the central mass become dried 

 up, then the danger is extremely serious. 

 We shall have occasion to refer to the un- 

 happy lot of the grub condemned to a diet 

 of too-stale bread. 



What dough does the Scarab's bakehouse 

 use? Who are the purveyors? The Horse 

 and the Mule? By no means. Yet that 

 was what I expected — and so would any- 

 body — after seeing the insect make such 

 energetic raids, for its own use, upon the 

 overflowing store of an ordinary lump of 

 dung. That is where it habitually manu- 

 factures the rolling ball which it goes and 

 consumes in some underground retreat. 



While coarse bread, full of bits of hay, 

 Is good enough for the mother, she becomes 

 more particular where her children are con- 

 cerned. She now wants the very daintiest 

 pastry, rich in nourishment and easily 

 digested; she wants the ovine manna: not 

 that which the Sheep of a costive habit 

 scatters in trails of black olives, but that 



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