Armful by armful, the material is heaped up under the belly, between the four legs, which, by a slight pressure, impart their own curve to it and give it a first fashion. Then, betweenwhiles, the rough-hewn pill is set spinning betwixt the four branches of the two spherical compasses; it turns under the Dung-beetle’s belly until it is rolled into a perfect ball. Should the surface layer lack plasticity and threaten to peel off, should some too-stringy part refuse to yield to the action of the wheel, the fore-legs correct the faulty places; their broad beaters pat the ball to give consistency to the new layer and to imbed the recalcitrant scraps into the mass. Under a hot sun, when the work is urgent, one stands amazed at the turner’s feverish activity. And thus the business proceeds apace: what was but lately a scanty pellet is now a ball the size of a walnut; soon it will be a ball the size of an apple. I have seen greedy-guts manufacture a ball the size of one’s fist. Here, of a certainty, is food in the larder for days to come! The provisions are made. The next thing is to withdraw from the fray and carry the victuals to a fitting place. Here the most striking characteristics of the Scarab begin to show themselves. The Dung-beetle sets out without delay; he embraces the sphere with his two long hind-legs, whose terminal claws, planted in the mass, serve as rotatory pivots; he obtains a purchase with the middle pair of legs; and, using the armlets of his fore-legs for leverage, he travels backwards with his load, bending his body, with his head down and his hinder part in the air. The hind-legs, the principal factor in the machinery, move continually, coming and going, shifting the claws to change the axis of rotation, maintain the equilibrium of the load and push it on by alternate thrusts to right and left. In this way, the ball finds itself touching the ground by turns with every point of its surface, a process which perfects its shape and gives an even consistency to its outer layer by means of pressure uniformly divided.