The Sacred Beetle and Others 



in this constant work of purification, hardly 

 vouchsafe the sturdy toilers a contemptous 

 glance. Popular language overwhelms them 

 with harsh epithets. This appears to be the 

 rule: do good and you shall be misjudged, 

 you shall be traduced, stoned, trodden under- 

 foot, as witness the Toad, the Bat, the 

 Hedgehog, the Owl and other helpers who, 

 for their services, ask nothing but a little 

 tolerance. 



Now, of our defenders against the dangers 

 of filth flaunted shamelessly in the rays of 

 the sun, the most remarkable in our climes 

 are the Geotrupes: not that they are more 

 zealous than the others, but because their size 

 makes them capable of heavier work. 

 Moreover, when it is simply a question of 

 their nourishment, they resort by preference 

 to the materials which we have most to fear. 



My neighbourhood is worked by four 

 species of Geotrupes. Two of them, G. 

 mutator, Marsh, and G. syhaticus, Panz., 

 are rarities on which we had best not 

 count for connected studies; the two others, 

 on the contrary, G. stercorarius, LiN., and 

 G. hypocrita, Schneid., are exceedingly com- 

 mon. Black as ink above, both of them are 

 magnificently garbed below. One is quite 

 surprised to find such a jewel-case among the 



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