The Gymnopleuri 



to the former; and even so this characteristic 

 is far from trustworthy. 



The egg-shape, with its two unequal ends, 

 one large and round, the other more pointed, 

 shaped like an elliptical nipple, or even 

 drawn out into the neck of a pear, confirms 

 the conclusions with which we are already 

 acquainted. An outline of this kind is not 

 obtained by rolling, which is only reconcil- 

 able with a sphere. To get it, the mother 

 must knead her lump of stuff. This may be 

 already more or less round, as the result of 

 the work done in the yard where it came 

 from and of the carting, or it may still be 

 shapeless, if the heap was near enough to 

 allow of immediate storing. In short, once 

 at home, she acts like the Sacred Beetle and 

 does m.odelling-work. 



The material lends itself well to this. Ta- 

 ken from the most plastic stuff supplied by 

 the Sheep, it is shaped as easily as clay. In 

 this way, the graceful, firm, polished ovoid is 

 obtained, a work of art like the pear and as 

 exquisite in its soft curv^e as a bird's egg. 



Where, inside it, is the insect's germ? If 

 we argued rightly when discussing the 

 Sacred Beetle, if really the questions of 

 ventilation and warmth demand that the 

 egg be as near as possible to the surrounding 



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