The Sacred Beetle and Others 



within until the development of the inmates 

 is complete. 



These scrupulous cares, cares occupying 

 every moment, have results which would 

 strike the attention of the least-experienced 

 observer. The egg-shaped vessels, or better 

 the cradles of the nursery, are wonderful in 

 their regular curves and in their neatness. 

 We see none of those chinks with a blob of 

 putty showing through, none of those cracks, 

 of those peeling scales, in short none of those 

 defects which, towards the end, nearly always 

 disfigure the Sacred Beetle's pears, handsome 

 though they be at the start. 



The horned Dung-beetle's caskets could 

 not be better-shaped, even after they are 

 thoroughly dried up, if they had been worked 

 in plaster by a modeller. What pretty, dark- 

 bronze eggs they are, rivalling the Owl's in 

 size and form ! This irreproachable perfect- 

 ion, maintained until the shell is burst by 

 the emerging larva, is obtained only by in- 

 cessant touching up, interspersed at long 

 intervals with periods of rest during which 

 the mother composes herself for a nap at the 

 foot of the heap. 



The glass jars leave room for doubt. It 

 is possible to say that the insect, imprisoned 

 in an impassable enclosure, stays in the midst 



240 



