The Bull Onthophagus: the Nymph 



In the first week of July, let us complete 

 the destruction of the Bull Onthophagus' 

 cell, already much impaired by the grub, 

 which, after exhausting the contents of its 

 knapsack, has gnawed the inner layer of the 

 walls. The ruins are removed as easily as 

 the husk of a ripe walnut. A sort of shell- 

 ing process gives us the seed, that is to say, 

 the nymphal casket, which comes out quite 

 neatly, without sticking to its wrapper at any 

 point. Break open the gem. The nymph 

 is there, half-transparent and as it were 

 carved out of crystal. Fortune favours me 

 with a male, who is more interesting because 

 of his frontal armour. 



The horns outline a splendid crescent, 

 leaning backwards and resting on the 

 shoulders. They are swollen; they are 

 colourless, like everything that life elabor- 

 ates in the midst of a generating-fluid; and 

 at their base are the dark ocular specks, not 

 yet capable of sight, but promising to be- 

 come so. The clypeus is expanding and 

 beginning to stand out. Seen from the 

 front, the head is that of a Bull, with a wide 

 muzzle and enormous horns, copied from 

 those of the Aurochs. 

 If the artists in the time of the Pharaohs 



had known the immature Onthophagus, they 



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