. The sacred beetle, and others [microform]. Beetles; Coléoptères. J 1. The Sacred Beetle and Others of the creature's weakness and the thinness of the wall. As its protection, therefore, the grub has, in its own way, the primal inspiration without which none would be able to live; it obeys the imperious voice of instinct, which says: *' There shalt thou bite and no ; And, respecting all the rest, however tempting, it bites at the prescribed spot; it eats into the pear at the bottom of the neck. In a few days, it has worked its way deep down into the mass, where it waxes big and
. The sacred beetle, and others [microform]. Beetles; Coléoptères. J 1. The Sacred Beetle and Others of the creature's weakness and the thinness of the wall. As its protection, therefore, the grub has, in its own way, the primal inspiration without which none would be able to live; it obeys the imperious voice of instinct, which says: *' There shalt thou bite and no ; And, respecting all the rest, however tempting, it bites at the prescribed spot; it eats into the pear at the bottom of the neck. In a few days, it has worked its way deep down into the mass, where it waxes big and fat, transforming the filthy material into a plump larva, gleaming with health, ivory- white with slate-coloured reflections and without a speck of dirt upon it. The matter which has disappeared, or rather which has been remelted in life's crucible, leaves empty a round cell into which the grub fits itself, curving its back under the spherical dome and bending double. The time has come for a sight stranger than any yet displayed to me by the industrial prowess of an insect. Anxious to observe the grub in the intimacy of its home, I open In the belly of the pear a little peep-hole half a centimetre * square. The head of the recluse at once appears in the opening, to ^ .19 inch.— Translator's Note, 122. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Fabre, J. Henri (Jean Henri), 1823-1915. Toronto : McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbeetles, bookyear1918
