The Bull Onthophagus: the Nymph 



adult Beetle's corselet, a thing which will 

 exist one day. We catch the genesis of the 

 species in the act; the present teaches us how 

 the future is prepared. 



And what does the Beetle propose to do 

 with this object of his ambition, this spear 

 w^hich he hopes by and by to place upon his 

 spine? At any rate as a dazzling piece 

 of masculine finery the thing is already fash- 

 ionable among the various foreign Scarabs 

 that feed themselves and their grubs on de- 

 caying vegetable matter. These giants 

 among the wearers of armoured wing-cases 

 delight in associating their placid corpulence 

 with halberds terrible to gaze upon. 



Look at one, Dynastes Hercules by name, 

 a denizen of rotten tree-stumps under the 

 scorching skies of the West Indies. The 

 peaceable colossus well deserves his epithet: 

 he measures three inches long. Of what 

 service can the threatening rapier of the 

 corselet and the toothed lifting-jack of the 

 forehead be to him, unless it be to make him 

 look grand in the presence of his female, 

 herself deprived of these extravagances? 

 Perhaps also they are of use to him in 

 certain operations, even as the trident helps 

 the Minotaur in crumbling his pellets and 

 carting his rubbish. Implements of which 



413 



