72 



Every one has, no doubt, heard of the Sacred Beetle of the Egjrptians, which was 

 worshipped by them as a god, and reverenced in various ways. It was called the Scara- 

 baeus, and belongs to the tribe we are now considering. "Hor-apoUon" — according to 

 Louis Figuier— "the learned commentator on Egyptian hieroglyphics, thinks that this 

 people, in adopting the Scarabaeus as a religious symbol, wished to represent at once an 

 unique birth — a father^ the world — a man. The unique birth means that the Scarabajus has 

 no mother. A male wishing to procreate, said the Egyptians, takes the dung of an ox, 

 works itup into a ball and gives it theshape of the world, rolls it with its hind legs from the 

 east to the west, and places it in the ground, where it remains twenty-eight days. The 

 twenty-ninth day it throws its ball, now open, into the water, and there comes forth a male 

 Scarabaeus. This explanation shows also why the Scarabaeus was employed to represent at 

 the same time a father, a man and the world. There ■were, however, according to the same au- 

 thor, three sorts of Scarabaii ; one was in the shape of a cat, and threw out brightly shining 

 rays (probably the Golden Scarabaeus), the others had two horns (Ci'pris)." 



There is a colossal granite figure of a Scarabaeus brought from Egypt in the British 

 Museum, and other smaller representations that we have seen appear to have been worn as 

 amulets, suspended from necklaces or bracelets. It is supposed by some that the [ilague of 

 ''flies" inflic'ed upon this people in the days of Moses consisted of swarms of this bedtle,thu9 

 rendering the object of their superstitious worship a means of punishment ; but we can 

 hardly think that so innocent and harmless a creature, in other respects, would have been 

 chosen by the Almighty for such a purpose ; we do not, however, insist upon any particular 

 view of the subject, as so little is told us in the pages c.f holy writ. 



In Canada we have one species (Canthon Imvis, Drury,) which bears a strong resemblance 

 to the Egyptian Scarabaeus in appearance and habits, it is not very common, but is, however, 

 generally distributed throughout the Province of Ontario. There are also several species ot an- 

 other geuus {Onpris), which possess similar habits but differ in their striated wing-covers, and 

 in the extraordinary curved horn with which the head of the males is armed. A remarkable 

 peculiarity of those insects exists in the structure and situation of the hind legs, which are 

 placed so near the extremity of the body and so far frum each other, as to give the insect a 

 most extraordinary appearance whilst walking. This peculiar formation is, however, par- 

 ticularly serviceable to its possessois in rolling the balls of excrementitious matter in which 

 they enclose their eggs. These balls are at first irregular and soft, but by degrees, and by 

 continued rolling, they become rounded and harder ; they are propelled by means of the hind 

 legs, and the insects occasionally mount on the top, when they find a ditiiculty in urging them 

 along; probably in (jrder to destroy the equilibrium. Sometimes these balls are an inch and 

 a half in diameter; and in rolling them along the beetles stand almost upon their heads, with 

 their heads turned away from the balls. These manoeuvres have for their object the burying 

 of the balls in holes, which the insects have previously dug for their reception ; and it is 

 upon the dung thus deposited that the larvie feed when hatched (MacLeay). These rhinoceros 

 or unicorn beetles — as they may be termed — frequently fly into houses through open windows, 

 when attracted by light in the warm summer evenings. They are especially abundant on 

 sandy soils. 



Another family of Dung-beetles (Geoirupidce) performs a similar important part in the 

 economy of nature, by feeding upon and burrowing under newly fallen dung. Its species, 

 however, do not make up pellets and roll them along the ground, as those above mentioned, 

 but content themselves with sinking shafts immediately under the mass of excrement, and 

 there hoarding up the supply of food for their young. They are much more common in this 

 country than the preceding and may iften be observed on a warm summer's evening, when 

 the shadows are growing long, hovering about the droppings of some horse or cow, and pre- 

 paring to do their part in the removal of a nuisance, and the fertilization of the earth. 



Yet another family [Ajihodiidce) must be briefly noticed, before we leave these useful 

 creatures. One species is almost the first beetle to greet us in early spring, as it flies about 

 the mauure of the hot-bed, and expands its coral-red wing-covers to the sun. It is the 

 .4^/io«ms7?mete?"ms, Linn., and is common in England as well as in Canada. Another tiny 

 species [A.inquinatus, Fab.,) swarms in the spring along the highways, resembling a fly as 

 it hovers in the air, but easily distinguished when captured in the hand, or otherwise arrest- 

 ed in its flight ; both of them feed upon horse-dung. The species of this family are es- 

 pecially numerous in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and devote them 



