formed the insect of
the possibility of inhumation.

It is absolute nonsense to speak of their first preparing the grave to
which the body will afterwards be carted. To excavate the soil, our
grave-diggers must feel the weight of their dead on their backs. They
work only when stimulated by the contact of its fur. Never, never in
this world do they venture to dig a grave unless the body to be buried
already occupies the site of the cavity. This is absolutely confirmed
by my two and a half months and more of daily observations.

The rest of Clairville's anecdote bears examination no better. We are
told that the Necrophorus in difficulties goes in search of assistance
and returns with companions who assist him to bury the Mouse. This, in
another form, is the edifying story of the Sacred Beetle whose pellet
had rolled into a rut, powerless to withdraw his treasure from the
gulf, the wily Dung-beetle called together three or four of his
neighbours, who benevolently recovered the pellet, returning to their
labours after the work of salvage.

The exploit--so ill-interpreted--of the thieving pill-roller sets me on
my guard against that of the undertaker. Shall I be too exigent if I
enquire what precautions the observer adopted to recognize the owner of
the Mouse on his return, when he reappears, as we are told, with four
assistants? What sign denotes that one of the five who was able, in so
rational a manner, to appeal for help? Can one even be sure that the
one to disappear returns and forms one of the band? There is nothing to
indicate it; and this was the essential point which a sterling observer
was bound not to neglect. Were they not rather five chance Necrophori
who, guided by the smell, without any previous understanding, hastened
to the abandoned Mouse to exploit her on their own account? I incline
to this opinion, the most likely of all in the absence of exact
information.

Probability becomes certainty if we submit the case to the verification
of experiment. The test with the brick already gives us some
information. For six hours my three specimens exhausted themselves in
efforts before they got to the length of removing their booty and
placing it on practicable soil. In this long and heavy task helpful
neighbours would have been anything but unwelcome. Four other
Necrophori, buried here and there under a little sand, comrades and
acquaintances, helpers of the day before, were occupying the same cage;
and not one