a
protecting casket for the recluse.

Above the cold pastry, right at the base of the neck of the gourd, is
contrived a round cell with a clay wall continuing the general wall. A
fairly thick floor, made of the same material, separates it from the
store-room. This is the hatching-chamber. Here is laid the egg, which
I find in its place but dried up; here is hatched the grub, which, to
reach the ball of food, must first open a trap-door through the
partition that separates the two stories.

We have here, in short, the edifice of the Gromphas, in a different
style of architecture. The grub is born in a casket surmounting the
stack of food but not communicating with it. The budding larva must
therefore, at the opportune moment, itself pierce the covering of the
pot of preserves. As a matter of fact, later, when the grub is on the
sausage-meat, we find the floor perforated with a hole just large
enough for it to pass through.

Wrapped all round in a thick casing of pottery, the meat keeps fresh
as long as is required by the duration of the hatching-process, a
detail which I have not ascertained; in its cell, which is also of
clay, the egg lies safe. Capital; so far, all is well. _Phanaeus
Milon_ is thoroughly acquainted with the secrets of fortification and
the danger of victuals evaporating too soon. There remain the germ's
respiratory requirements.

To satisfy these, the insect has been equally well-inspired. The neck
of the calabash is pierced, in the direction of its axis, with a tiny
channel which would admit at most the slenderest of straws. Inside,
this conduit opens at the top of the dome of the hatching-chamber;
outside, at the tip of the nipple, it spreads into a wide mouth. This
is the ventilating-shaft, protected against intruders by its extreme
narrowness and by grains of dust which obstruct it a little without
stopping it up. I said it was simply marvellous. Was I wrong? If a
construction of this sort is a fortuitous result, we must admit that
blind chance is gifted with extraordinary powers of foresight.

How does the clumsy insect manage to accomplish so delicate and
complex a piece of building? Exploring the pampas as I do through the
eyes of an intermediary, my only guide in this question is the
structure of the work, a structure whence we can deduct the workman's
method without going far astray. I therefore imagine the building to
proceed in this manner: a small carcase is found, the oozing of which