Note 2 — Chapter viii · THE BROAD-NECKED SCARAB; THE GYMNOPLEURI

I have given many instances of this strange antithesis,2 which is the death-blow to certain theories; I find another and an exceedingly striking one in the Dung-beetles whose story I have now nearly finished telling. We are surprised at this clear vision of the future possessed by our manufacturers of spheres, pears and ovoids; but we are no less surprised by something totally different, namely, the mother’s profound indifference to the nursery which but now was the object of her tenderest cares.