PTINUS. 
35 
an inch in length, and is moderately thick in pro- 
portion, and the wing-sliells are marked with 
numerous irregular variegations of a lighter or 
greyer cast than the ground-colour. In the 
twentieth and twenty-second volume of the Philo- 
sophical Transactions may be found a description 
of this species l)y the celebrated Derham, wdth 
some very just observations relative to its habits 
and general appearance ; and it seems singular 
that so remarkable an insect should have almost 
escaped the notice of more modern entomologists. 
In the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae of 
Linnjeus it does not appear ; but is probably the 
Uermestes testelatus of Fabricius, in which case he 
seems to have placed it in a wrong genus. Ridi- 
culous, and even incredible as it may appear, it is 
an animal that may in some measure be tamed : 
at least it may be so far familiarized as to be 
made to beat occasionally, 1)y taking it out of its 
confinement, and beating on a table or board, 
when it wall readily answer the noise, and will 
continue to beat as often as required. 
We must be careful not to confound this ani- 
mal, which is the real DeathTVatch of the vulgar, 
emphatically so called, wnth a much smaller insect 
of a very different genus, wliich makes a sound 
like the ticking of a watch, and continuQS it for a 
long time without intermission. It belongs to a 
totally different order, and is the d'ennes pulsa- 
torium of Limnens. 
I cannot conclude this slight account of the 
Death-Watch without quoting a sentence from 
