The Geotrupes: the Public Health 



what does he do with his warehouses, re- 

 newed each twilight in favourable weather? 

 It is obvious that the Dung-beetle is incapable 

 of consuming all those provisions in a single 

 night. He has such a superabundance of 

 victuals in his larder that he does not know 

 how to dispose of them; he is surfeited with 

 good things by which he will not profit; and, 

 not satisfied with having his store crammed, 

 the acquisitive plutocrat slaves, night after 

 night, to store away more. 



From each warehouse, set up here, set up 

 there, as things happen, he deducts the daily 

 meal beforehand; the rest, which means al- 

 most the whole, he abandons. My cages 

 testify to the fact that this instinct for bury- 

 ing is more imperative than the consumer's 

 appetite. The ground is soon raised, in con- 

 sequence; and I am obliged, from time to 

 time, to lower the level to the desired limits. 

 If I dig it up, I find it choked throughout its 

 depth with hoards that have remained intact. 

 The original earth has become a hopeless con- 

 glomeration, which I must prune freely, if 

 I would not go astray in my future observa- 

 tions. 



Allowing for errors, either of excess or 

 deficiency, which are inevitable in a subject 

 that does not admit of exact measurement, 



283 



