grave-digging BEETLE. 273 
indefatigable exertions of this beetle. Three or four 
of them, by their united efforts, will dig a hole in 
the ground and bury a mole under the surface, so that 
no traces of it shall be left ; and this we are assured 
has been accomplished in the space of one hour. 
Mr. Gleditsch was induced to watch the motions of 
these industrious insects with more than common 
attention, as he was unable for some time to account 
for the disappearance of the dead moles which were 
left upon the ground ; and his curiosity was so far 
excited 1o determine the cause of this singularity, 
that he was resolved if possible to find it out. Ac- 
cordingly he procured a dead mole, which he laid 
upon some soft moist earth in his garden. This 
was done on the twenty-fifth of May, and in two 
days the mole was sunk four fingers’ breadth into 
the earth. Mr. G. remarked that the position of 
the animal was not in the least altered, and that the 
dimensions of its grave corresponded exactly with 
the size of its body. The next day the grave was 
half filled up ; and our narrator, to satisfy his cu- 
riosity, cautiously drew out the mole, which was in 
a very offensive state, and found directly under its 
body some little holes, in which were four of these 
beetles. After having returned the little grave- 
diggers into the hollow, where they presently con- 
cealed themselves among the earth, he replaced the 
mole precisely in its former situation, and, spread- 
ing a little soft earth over the remains, left it to its 
fate for the space of six days. Upon revisiting the 
body he found it completely corrupted, and filled 
VOL. 11. 
T 
