. The sacred beetle, and others [microform]. Beetles; Coléoptères. iilj. The Sacred Beetle and' Others Nature, so lavish of her cares in respect of rural health, is indifferent to the welfare of cities, if not actively hostile to it. She has created for the fields two classes of scavengers, whom nothing wearies, whom no- thing repels. One of these, consisting of Flies, Silphae, Dermestes, Necrophori, His- ters is charged with the dissection of corpses. They cut and hash, they elaborate the waste matter of death in their stomachs in order to restore it to life. A Mole ripped open by the ploup^h
. The sacred beetle, and others [microform]. Beetles; Coléoptères. iilj. The Sacred Beetle and' Others Nature, so lavish of her cares in respect of rural health, is indifferent to the welfare of cities, if not actively hostile to it. She has created for the fields two classes of scavengers, whom nothing wearies, whom no- thing repels. One of these, consisting of Flies, Silphae, Dermestes, Necrophori, His- ters is charged with the dissection of corpses. They cut and hash, they elaborate the waste matter of death in their stomachs in order to restore it to life. A Mole ripped open by the ploup^hshare soils the path with its entrails, wh soon turn purple; a Snake lies on the grass, crushed by the foot of a wayfarer who thought, the fool, that he was performing a good work; an unfledged bird, fallen from its nest, lies, a crushed and pathetic heap, at the foot of the tree that carried it; thousands of other similar remains, of every sort and kind, are scattered here and there, threaten- ing danger through their effluvia, if no steps be taken to put things right. Have no fear: no sooner is a corpse signalled in any direct- Ion than the little undertakers come trotting along. They work away at it, empty it, con- sume It to the bone, or at least reduce it to the dryness of a mummy. In les'' than twenty-four hours, Mole, Snake, bird have 276. 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
Size: 1064px × 2349px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbeetles, bookyear1918
