The Bull Onthophagus: the Cell 



of the adult, we have seen him suddenly 

 double his length and consequently increase 

 eightfold in bulk before taking the least 

 scrap of nourishment. A highly complex 

 process of coordination and adjustment 

 takes place in the interior of the organism; 

 and the dimensions increase without the ad- 

 dition of new material. 



An animal is a structure capable of be- 

 coming more spacious with the same amount 

 of materials. Everything depends upon 

 the molecular architecture, which becomes 

 more and more refined by the tremors of life. 

 The contents of the egg, a compact mass, 

 expand into a creature which is all the bulkier 

 for its richness in organs for diverse func- 

 tions. Even so, the locomotive engine, the 

 creature of industry, occupies more space than 

 the iron, its raw material, melted down into a 

 single ingot. 



When the shell is able to stretch, the egg 

 swells under the thrust of its contents, which 

 form into an organic whole and dilate. 

 This is the case with the various Dung- 

 beetles. When the shell is hard and rigid, 

 a void is made by evaporation at the thick 

 end; and this excess of space supplies the 

 room necessary for the increase in volume 

 of the contents. This is the case with the 



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