.The Sacred Beetle and Others 



them. The piles of food hoarded vary In 

 form, as we shall have an opportunity of 

 seeing: in addition to the pear, such shapes 

 as the cylinder, the ovoid, the pill and the 

 thimble are adopted, according to the genus 

 of the manipulator; but, amid this diversity 

 of outline, one primary feature remains un- 

 changed and that is the placing of the egg in 

 a hatching-chamber close to the surface 

 which allows free access to air and heat. 

 And the most gifted in this delicate art of 

 knowing just where to place the egg is the 

 Sacred Beetle with her pear. 



I was saying just now that this foremost 

 of dung-kneaders behaved with a logic that 

 rivals our own. By this time, my statement 

 has been completely established. Nay, 

 better still. Let us submit the following 

 problem to our leading scientific lights. A 

 germ is accompanied by a mass of victuals 

 liable soon to be rendered useless by desicca- 

 tion. How should the alimentary mass be 

 shaped? Where should the egg be laid so 

 as to be easily influenced by air and heat? 



The first question of the problem has 

 already been answered. Knowing that 

 evaporation varies In proportion to the 

 extent of the evaporating surface, science 

 declares that the victuals shall be arranged 



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