The Sacred Beetle: the Pear 



in the form of a ball, because the spherical 

 shape is that which encloses the greatest 

 amount of material within the smallest 

 surface. As for the egg, since it requires a 

 protecting sheath to keep it from any harm- 

 ful contact, it shall be contained within a 

 thin, cylindrical case; and this case shall be 

 fixed upon the sphere. 



Thus the requisite conditions are fulfilled: 

 the provisions, packed into a ball, keep fresh; 

 the egg, protected by its slender, cylindrical 

 sheath, receives the influence of warmth and 

 air without impediment. The strictly need- 

 ful has been obtained; but it is very ugly. 

 Utility has paid no attention to beauty. 



An artist corrects the crude work of 

 reason. He replaces the cylinder by a 

 semiellipsoid, so much prettier in form; he 

 joins this ellipsoid to the sphere by means of 

 a graceful curved surface; and the whole 

 becomes the pear, the necked gourd. It is 

 now a work of art, a thing of beauty. 



The Sacred Beetle does exactly what 

 aesthetic considerations dictate to ourselves. 

 Can she, too, have a sense of beauty? Is 

 she able to appreciate the elegance of her 

 pear? True, she does not see it: she 

 manipulates it in profound darkness. But 

 she touches it. A poor touch hers, roughly 



lOI 



