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able, 



HIS is the moft numerous and remarkable bf the 

 Beetle kind of any in North -Jmerica. They ap- 

 pear in /fpril^ and continue the lummer-monchs, or 

 till zhoxM September^ at which time they difappear, 

 and are no more feen till the following fpring. 

 Their conftant employ, in which they are indefati- 



iSj in order to continue their fpccies, to 

 provide proper tiidi to depofite their eggs : this 

 they dolDy"formTng round pellets of human dung, or thatot cattle, in 

 tlie middle qi which they lay an egg. Thefe pellets, in September^ 

 they convey three feet deep in the earth, wHere they lie till the approach 

 of fpring, when the eggs become animate, burft their nefts, and Bad 

 their way out of the earth. I have attentively admired their induftry, 

 and mutual affiftinso^^ another in rolling thefe globular balls from the 



4 I 



* . — . •■■«.-; 









Fouille-merdd 



^ EST ici la plus nomhreufe^ & la plus JtnguIIere ak. ■ 



toules les efpeces d Efcarbots de F hi'v^ir\C[\^Q Septen- 

 trionale. Jls commence nt_ a paroltre en A vrLl:^ i^ ^loMr 

 tinuent tons les mois de VEte^ & vtim jufqu*cs Sepr 

 tembre^ 'ifi^t Us difparoiJIpitentiercment-^jtiJ^u^auPrhti^ 

 temps prochain. Lcur occupation conjiante^ Csf dan$ 

 laquclk Us font infatigahles^ ejl^ dans la vm de per^ 

 petuer leur efpece^ de fe pourvoir de 7iids propres a ^ 



place they made them to that of their interment, which is ufually the 

 diftance of fonle yards, more or le(s : this they perform breech fore- 

 bioft, by raifirig their hind part, and forcing alorig the ball with their 

 hind feet. Two'or three are fometimes engaged in trundling one ball, 

 which, often meeting with impediments by the unevennefs of the rieurs pour poapr la balk : dmx ou trots d'entr'eux font (^uelqiieflh o^cciiph 



J 



depoferleurs cenfs \ & c'eft cequ'Us font^ enformant despetites ballesroHdei 

 defienie hivnaine^ on. de celle d'autres animAuXy m/^/l^^^'fdefqiiillesiUpoidenl 

 un Qjuf. Dans le mois deS'^pittnbveUs poujjent ces balles^ ^ les eriterrent 

 dans des creiix de trois pies de profondeur^ on elles, reficnt jufqiCaux apprqchci 

 du Printemps^ que les a:ufs devenant animes^ rompent leurs nids, & s'ouvrenf 

 un ch.emin hors de la terre. J^ai admire atteni'ivement leur indt0rie, £5? 

 Vajfifiance ni:itiiclle qu'UsJe prctent les uns aux autres^ pour f aire roulcr ces 

 halles du lieu ou Us les ont faites jufqu^ a celui de leur fepulttire'^ qM ejt ordi^' 



kairenknt a la diftance de quelques verges^ pi 



US ou moms 



exccu^ent a reculo}p^enleva.nt.leurderriere^i5enfefervantde leurs pie's poft;.e'-_ 



ground, is deferted by them, yet by others is again attempted with 

 fuccefs ; except it rolls into a deep hollow or chink, where they are ne- 

 ceffitated to leave it-, repeating the like action with the next ball that 

 falls in their way* Nd one feems to know their own ball, but an equal 

 care for all feem to affc£l the whple CQcntiiut\ity. Tbey fprm thefe. 



d lafair-e rouler 'y i^fidansfonchemin elle reHcontrCy par rinsgalite dti 

 ^terrein^ quelque empkhenient^ qui la leur fait abandonntr^ d'dutres re^' 

 premtimt la mancvuvre avec fucces\ d moins que Id balle ne rouje danh 

 quelque creux J ou quelque crevaffe unpen trop prof onde^ on Us font obliges 



de la laiffer^ £s? p'4is. recommencent le mMe travail 0v.cc, la premiere balU: 



pellets while the dung remains moiftj, and leave them to harden in the quils trouvent dans leur chemin: aucun d'eux ne femble^ conHoltfe fa, 



lun before they attempt to roll them : in doing which, they and the propre balle^ mais un Join egal pour toutps les balks femble intcreffer 



balls are continually tumbling and rolling one over another down the la communaute entiere : ilsfor?nent leurs balks tandis que lafiente eft eftCprt' 



little emiaencles \ but not difcouraged thereby, repeat their attempts^ frdiche^ {5 les laifjent durcir aufoleil^ ai)ant qued^entreprendre de les f aire 



and ufually furmount thefe difficulties 



fouler : durant leur m2mvuvreeux fcf leu/s balks tombent i^ rouknt conti^ 

 ftuellement les uns fur les autres du haut des petit es eminences \ niais fans fh 

 decourager pour cela^ Us re-^rennent leur Qntreprife^ i5 furmnterh ordinaire^^ 

 hient ces '"" ' ' 



Thefe Infecls bein*^ endowed with the like Tagacity of thc^urky-. ' Ces InfeBes^doues delamhne fagacite que /'Urubu,^Vaye:^ let, Vo!*' 



luzzard, (Vol. I. p. 6.) find out thar fubfiftence by the excellency of 

 theirnofes, which dired them in flights to the excrement jufl: fallen 



p. 6. ) dkoiivrent leur nourriturepar la fmeffc de leur odor at ^ qui dirige lcur , 

 vol a r excrement nouvellem.ent tombe des entrailks de Vhomme. ou de la bete'^ 



from Man or Beaft, on which they inftantly drop, and fall unani- fur lequej. ils Je j.ettent ai0 tot^ ^ f^ m^Hent wimimcw.nt a Pouvrage':^ 



moudy to work in forming balls, Cs?f. which they temper with a 

 mixture of earth. So intent they are at their work, that ^^-^ 



tho 



c^eft a dire\ a fair e leurs balles^ quails temperent par le mllange d* unpen di 

 jterre : Us font ft appliques a leur befogne^ que quoi qu^on les touche^ ouqu'on 



handled or otherwife interrupted, they perfift in their oeconomical les interromped'une autre maniere^ Us perfevefent dans leur occupation axo^, 



employment without apprehenfion of danger. 



The fize of it is that of the figure here exhibited. It is all over of 

 a dufky black. It has fix legs, two joined to the thorax, and four to 



the abdomen. • h. > 



The Male. There are always. accompanying thefe jufi: meiition- 



ed, fome larger ones of a different and more elegant ftrufture and 

 colour, which are much lefs numerous, being about one in twerity 

 to the others. The thorax of this is covered with a fhi^d of a 

 crrmfon metallic luftre, the head and lower part of the fhield of t^e 

 like luftre, blended with green. From th? crown of the head 

 rifes a (liinino- black hord recurved backward. The fheaths of the 

 wino-s. arc ribbed, and of a fnihing deep green; as arc the thighs 

 and^under-part of the abdomen. I'hefc are commonly called King 

 "Jwnbk'furds^ tho' by what appearS, they alTunle no pre-eoiuience^ 

 but v/ithoutdiftindion partake of the like dirty drudgery with the.re(h, ' 



I think this can be no other than the Male of that firft dcfcribed, . 

 rotwkhftanding the great difference that appears in their oucer 

 flructure and colour, and the difp^-rity of number. 



N^ B. It is certain x\\?LiPlin)\ from Jriftotte, has niade mention in 

 his Nat, IJift. Book XI. Chap. 28. of a kind of Beetles who roll large 

 balU Qt ^.'^^Q wi^h ^^^'^ ''^^^ backwards, arid lo^ige therein, agaia(t the 

 rigour of the winter, fmall worms, which becoipe thdr yoyngonesj 



otTiers fly, <f^c. But as neither of them have given us a particular de- 

 fcription of this fpecies, \x is hardly pofTible to determ'ine, it thofe in 

 America are precifely the fame as thofe itiehtioried by thefe two au- 

 thors. I flrall add to this remark, which I received from the reverend 

 and learned Mr. Burand^ That I received one of thefe Beetles from 

 Gibraltar^ with its ball, very different from thofe of Anieric'a\ from 

 which I conjefture, that the Gibraltar fort is ptobably that of Ariftoik; 



nomique fans aucune apprehenfion de danger, 



Leur groffeur naturelk eft celle de la figure qu^on en voil ici, lis foni 

 partout d\m noir fvmbrey ^^ ontjixjambes^ deux qui font joint es an thorax^ 

 £5? quatre d V abdomen, 



L^ Male, hes InfeBes^ qu^on vient de decrire^foM ton] ours dccompagnes 

 te quelques autres plus grands, d^une forme ^ d'um coukur differente^ ^ 

 plus belle : a la verite Us ne font pas en fi grand nombre^ rCy en ayant quhtn 

 pour vingt tout, au, plus, he thorax^ de ceux-cj eft couvert 4'm k^.uclier d^mi 

 luftre mctallique cramoift : la tete^ if? la partie infmeure du boucVter font dtl 

 mm luilre meU de verd : (le h courotne de la fete s^elev-e une come d^itn noir 



recourbee en arriere : ks gaines des ailes font munies de cotes, 6f 

 font d^un verd fonce tres brillant, comme font auffi les cuiffes:^ &* le deffous 

 de C abdomen. On les nomme conimunemen! Lt^s Rois des Fouillemerde^- 

 iq^m quUi enjugerpar ce q^tii paroit^ Us ne s^arrogent aucune preeminence^ £^ 

 font fans dijtin^ion a%iec les autres la memieja mano:uvre ordtiriere, 



Je mjmagine que ces d^^rniers nefcatiroient etre que ks males de ce^x ^il'oji 

 i^JJcritj, plus hayA mglgri {a granA^, difference qui paxpit dcins leur forvii 

 C^ierieure^ dans leur coukur, if? d/?m la difp(irite de leur nombre,_ 

 ' N. B, II e/l certain que Pllnt, apres Ar'Aote', fait ntention dans fofi 

 Hi tl. Nat. Li V. XL Chap. 2 S. '^ Jt^ cerlains Efcarbots, qui font des balk's 

 ie fiente, tes foiik^y aveVlewsjaniJ^-cs de d^'^vi^X ^%^ iS y^ depofent pour les 

 garantjr dc h rigueur.. dc Phr^er, des vmniffeaux (^tlj, d^vienAent leurs 

 petits; mai$ comme ni Vttn niP autre ne nous foment point de defiriptio^ 

 partictdiere de_ ces Efcarbots^ iht" eft gueres pojftble de deJm^neTji ceu;^ ds. 

 i^ Avniviqutfont precifiiment ks memes^ que ceiix qui font rnentionnts dans ces^ 

 deux grcmds duteurs. J\ijouterai a cette remarque, que je dois ciu ffavant 

 IvL Durand, quefai recti de Gibraltar un F.fcarbot, avec fa halle', bien 

 different de ceiix de /'A.merique-, ce qui me fait cf'oire que Vefpece d^ 

 Gibraltar eft probabldnent la infme que m'/^^'Ariftdtef. 



JliurJ rurfus eorum genus, qui ^e firm ingmiss pilas averfi pedibus volutant, pdrvofque in Us contra rtgorem hiemis vermiculos Jut feet us nidulantur : voUtani aliti 



&c. Hift. Nat. L. XI. S, 34. Ed. Hard. ^ ■ ^ . ^ . - ^ . . . \ . .. 



■f Et JrilL Hlft. Ahim. Lib, 5. Cap, 18. Hi pUularii diHi, quodjlercus volutant, in quo condilnt fe per hiemcm, vermiculofque pariunt, unde ^cdrahal prov$n\unt^ 



Ltll 



turn 



Martagon Ganadenfe, jloribus ntagis Jlavi^'^ non hjlexis. 



k 



T" HIS fingular kind of Martagon rifes to the height of ajmofl: four 

 feet. Oh the futtimit of the ftem are fet altogether about twelve 

 pedicles, to which are fixed its reclining flowers. The difference be- 

 tween this andother Martagons confifts principally in this particular, 

 that whereas the petals of the other kinds of Martagons are reflected 

 with a twirl, in this kind they refled very little, not more than thof^ 

 of the common white Lily. 



Thefe Plants were produced from fcaly roots fent from Penfylvania^ 



and have flowered fevcral years in Mr. Collinfon% garden at PeckbajH, 



Le Lis de Canada, ou le MaI^tagon^ 



QETTE'cfpccefngulicre de Martagon s'eleve jifqu'd la hauteur d^en- 

 viron quatre pics. FJir kfommet. de la tige fcnt places enfembk envirod 

 douze fedicuks, auxquels font att achees leurs fairs pcnchantes : la difference 

 qu'ilya entre ce Marragon (J^ les autres conftfte principalcMcnt en: ce 

 qtCau lieu que les pctaks des autres fortes de Mai tAgonfont reflichis enfpi- 

 raks. Us ne reftcckiffeni que tres peu dans celui-ci, (^ pas plus que ceux de nos 

 lis blancs ordinaires, 



CcsPlantesfontprcvenuesderacines ecaiUeufes, envoyees dePtx\f\\vzn\^, i^ 



ont fieuri plufieurs annc^s de fuite dans kjardi)i deMr^Collnifon dPcckhimt 



