The Sacred Beetle and Odiers 



of the size affected by the Copris. True, 

 it is round; but the Copris' pills also are not 

 unseldom round, even after receiving the egg. 



Well, the Sacred Beetle's loaf, that loaf 

 of irreproachable quality, kneaded by the 

 king of bread-makers, meets with the same 

 fate as mine. At one time it is provided 

 with an egg, at another it is eaten, while no 

 accident ever happens by mistake to the 

 exactly similar pills kneaded by the Copris. 



That the insect, finding itself in this mixed 

 assembly, should rip open what is still in- 

 animate matter and respect what is already a 

 cradle, that it should discriminate between 

 the lawful and the unlawful, in circumstances 

 such as these, seems to me incapable of 

 explanation, if there be no guide but senses 

 resembling our own. It is useless to say 

 that it is a case of sight: the Beetle works 

 in absolute darkness. Even if she worked 

 in the light, that would not lessen the diffi- 

 culty. The shape and appearance of the pill 

 are alike in both instances; the clearest sight 

 would be at fault once the pills were mixed 

 up. 



It is impossible to suggest that smell has 

 anything to do with it: the substance of the 

 pill does not vary; it is always the produce 

 of the Sheep. Impossible likewise to say 



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