ays at the base of the acorn, in the midst of a soft
cottony layer which is moistened by the sap which oozes from the stalk.
The grub, upon hatching out, being as yet incapable of attacking the
firm substance of the cotyledons, masticates the delicate felt-like
layer at the base of the cup and is nourished by its juices.

But as the acorn matures this layer becomes more solid in its
consistency. The soft tissues harden; the moist tissues dry up. There is
a period during which the acorn fulfils to perfection the conditions
most conducive to the welfare of the grub. At an earlier period matters
would not have reached the desired stage; at a later period the acorn
would be too mature.

The exterior of the acorn gives no indication whatever of the progress
of this internal cookery. In order not to inflict unsuitable food on the
grub, the mother beetle, not sufficiently informed by the look of the
acorn, is thus obliged to taste, at the end of her trunk, the tissues at
the base of the cup.

The nurse, before giving her charge a spoonful of broth, tests it by
tasting it. In the same way the mother beetle plunges her trunk into the
base of the cup, to test the contents before bestowing them upon her
offspring. If the food is recognised as being satisfactory the egg is
laid; if not, the perforation is abandoned without more ado. This
explains the perforations which serve no purpose, in spite of so much
labour; the tissues at the base of the cup, being carefully tested, are
not found to be in the required condition. The elephant-beetles are
difficult to please and take infinite pains when the first mouthful of
the grub is in question. To place the egg in a position where the
new-born grub will find light and juicy and easily digested nutriment is
not enough for those far-seeing mothers; their cares look beyond this
point. An intermediary period is desirable, which will lead the little
larva from the delicacies of its first hours to the diet of hard acorn.
This intermediary period is passed in the gallery, the work of the
maternal beak. There it finds the crumbs, the shavings bitten off by the
chisels of the rostrum. Moreover, the walls of the tunnel, which are
softened by mortification, are better suited than the rest of the acorn
to the tender mandibles of the larva.

Before setting to work on the cotyledons the grub does, in fact,
commence upon the contents and walls of this tiny passage. It first
consumes the shavings lyi