The Spanish Copris: the Mother 



pleases. No bird could be a more devoted 

 mother. 



Secondly, the Copris' abrupt transforma- 

 tion at laying-time into an expert pill-maker 

 provides us, in so far as we are able to get 

 at the truth, with a proof of the theorem 

 which I was almost afraid to formulate just 

 now. Here is a Beetle not equipped for the 

 pill-roller's art, an art moreover which is not 

 required for her individual prosperity. She 

 has no aptitude, no propensity for kneading 

 the food which she buries and consumes as 

 she finds it; she is totally ignorant of the 

 sphere and its properties in connection with 

 food-preservation; and all of a sudden, in 

 obedience to an inspiration for which no- 

 thing, in the ordinary course of her life, has 

 prepared the way, she moulds into a sphere 

 or ovoid the legacy which she bequeaths to 

 her grub. With her short, clumsy fore-leg 

 she shapes the viaticum of her offspring into 

 a skilful solid mass. The difficulty is 

 great. It Is overcome by dint of application 

 and patience. In two days, or three at most, 

 the round cradle is perfected. How does 

 the dumpy creature go to work to achieve 

 mathematical exactness in her ball? The 

 Sacred Beetle has her long legs, which serve 



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