292 



TRANSFOEMATIOiVS OF LVSECTS. 



hesitate to devour the skins of beasts and of birds that are placed 

 in museums, and it is equally dreaded in shops where anything 

 of the kind is sold. 



The Dcrincstcs which frequent hides and stuffed animals are 

 by no means disinclined to enjoy bacon and ham. If they cannot 

 get anything of this sort to eat they have been known to destroy 

 cork, whole cargoes being almost completely ruined by them. 

 They have also, been found in asbestos, perforating it in various 

 directions, and undergoing their transformations there. Some 

 other species than those we have noticed have been found in 



THE METAMORPHOSES OF DemiesUs lardarius K^Y) Dermcstcs viilpiniis. 



Egyptian mummies. The larvae of the Dcrincstcs which is so 

 destructive to museums have two strong mandibles, with which 

 they commit their mischief, but usually the perfect insects of 

 these pests do not do much harm. 



Another species of the genus, Dcj'incstcs vnlpinns, although not 

 so common over the whole world as the last, is occasionally found 

 in great numbers. The larvae are found under the same circum- 

 stances as those just mentioned, and about twenty-fiv^e or thirty 

 years since they caused such great damage in the furriers' ware- 

 houses and shops in London that a large reward was offered for a 

 remedy which would destroy them. It is easy to kill them by 

 evaporating benzine, or bisulphide of carbon, but it is necessary 



