The Spotted Larinus 
by their opaline tint, the fact that they are 
fairly full; while the lower portion of the 
intestine is dilated with a pulpy substance 
which conspicuously attracts the eye. 
It is a semi-fluid, viscous, treacly material 
of a muddy white. I perceive that it 
contains an abundance of opaque corpuscles, 
like finely powdered chalk, which effervesce 
when dissolved in nitric acid and are there- 
fore uric products. 
‘This very soft pulp is, beyond a doubt, the 
cement which the grub ejects and collects 
drop by drop; and the rectum is obviously the 
bitumen-warehouse. The parity of aspect, 
colour and treacly consistency are to me 
decisive: the grub consolidates and cements 
and creates a work of art with the refuse 
from its sewer. 
Is this really an excremental residue? 
Doubts may be permitted. The four Mal- 
pightan tubes which have poured the 
powdered urates into the intestine might well 
supply it with other materials. They do not 
in general seem to perform very exclusive 
duties. Why should they not be entrusted 
._ with various functions in a. poorly-equipped 
organism? ‘They fill with a chalky broth to 
43 
