68 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



Maker of the planets and of the heavenly hosts, which are prais- 

 ing me above thy head." The same hymn, p. 67, says : " Look 

 ye up to the mansions of the hosts of the mighty (planetary gods),, 

 who work for their Master, for my glory ; look up to me who 

 have established my kingdom above the heavens." A French 

 papyrus, as will be seen on another occasion, testifies that the 

 same god " rules the deities and the heavenly firmament"; that 

 he "built all the inhabitants of Egypt and the oases"; that he 

 " governs the beatified Manes"; that he " wove both the visible 

 and invisible objects in the world," and the like. All enuncia- 

 tions of this character do not concern any of the planets or zodia- 

 cal gods ; they refer apparently to the invisible Builder of the 

 universe expressed by our beetle. 



The question, however, will be raised, why the wise Egyptians 

 took so despicable an insect, as a little black manure-eating bee- 

 tle is, for an emblem of the almighty and infinite God? It is He- 

 rodotus who, 237S years ago, was greatlv astonished in observing 

 the sigacity of this sacred Egyptian creature — which, by the way, 

 is not to be found in Europe, but is quite common in America. 

 I myself confess that, when beholding the work of this scarabaeus 

 first, I could not part from the spectacle for many hours. This 

 little May-bug, as black as coal, scarcely as large as the nail of a 

 human thumb, forms, together with his consort, a ball out of cow- 

 dung, five or six times larger than the workman. This globe, a& 

 smooth as an ivory ball, contains the posterity of the pair, and,, the 

 first work being done, the problem is to save the progeny during 

 the winter. Hence Mr. May-bug proceeds to push the ball with 

 all the forces given to him, whilst Mrs. May-bug poises herself 

 upon the top of the globe for the purpose of counterbalancing and 

 propelling it. Thus the ball is rolled over plains and hills, which, 

 with respect to the short feet of our little friends, are, in compa- 

 rison, sometimes as high as the Rocky Mountains. But it occa- 

 sionally happens that the colossal sphere, notwithanding all pre- 

 cautions, slips down into the valley. Alas I the work of a whole 

 day or two is lost ; what is to be done? Mr. and Mrs. May-bug 

 run down as quickly as possibly and recommence their toil, in 

 spite of hunger and thirst, no refreshment being at hand, till they 

 finally reach a place where grass or roots do not prevent the dig- 

 ging, by means of their hereditary shovels, a hole, wherein the 



