The Bull Onthophagus: the Nymph 



appear altogether when the adult bursts its 

 wrapping. My near neighbourhood numb- 

 ers a dozen species of Onthophagi; the 

 world contains some hundreds. All, natives 

 and foreigners, have the same general 

 structure ; all most probably possess the dor- 

 sal appendage at an early age; and none of 

 them, in spite of the variety of climate, 

 torrid in one place, temperate in another, 

 has succeeded in hardening it into a 

 permanent horn. 



Could not the future complete a work 

 whose design is so very clearly traced? We 

 are the more inclined to ask this, because 

 appearances are all in favour of the question. 

 Examine under the magnifying-glass the 

 frontal horns of the Bull Onthophagus in the 

 nymphal state ; then with the same scrupulous 

 care look at the spear upon the corselet. At 

 first, there is no difference between them, 

 except for the general configuration. In 

 both cases we find the same glassy aspect, 

 the same sheath swollen with colourless fluid, 

 the same incipient organ plainly marked. 

 A leg in process of formation is not more 

 clearly announced than the horn on the 

 corselet or those on the forhead. 



Can time be lacking for the thoracic 

 growth to become organized into a stiff and 



415 



