The Sacred Beetle and Others 



wherewith to glaze the stucco of the chamber 

 in which the grub will be born. 



In conclusion, one more detail concerning 

 this hatching-chamber. At the extreme end 

 of the neck of the pear, one point is always 

 pretty clearly distinguished: it bristles with 

 stringy fibres, while the rest of the neck is 

 carefully polished. This is the plug with 

 which the mother 'has closed the narrow 

 opening after carefully depositing the egg; 

 and this plug, as its hairy structure shows, 

 has not been subjected to the pressure which 

 has been exerted over all the rest of the mass, 

 working into it any projecting bits, however 

 small, till not the slightest sign of roughness 

 remains. 



Why does the extreme end of the pear 

 receive this special treatment, a most curious 

 exception, when nothing else has eluded the 

 heavy blows of the insect's legs? The 

 reason is that the hind-end of the egg rests 

 against this plug, which, were it pressed 

 down and driven in, would transmit the 

 pressure to the germ and imperil its safety. 

 So the mother, aware of the risk, stops the 

 hole without ramming down the stopper: the 

 air in the hatching-chamber is thus more 

 easily renewed; and the egg escapes the 

 dangerous activity of the powerful rammer. 



ii8 



