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chase gun. which, when pursued by its enemies, discharges an 

 acid that volatiHses on coming into contact with the air, with noise 

 and smoke. Our efforts to-night are of an humble description, 

 and will be confined to a few locally common beetles, and whose 

 habits may be studied almost at any time. 



In a young Society like ours, it would have been more 

 in keeping if we had given you some idea of the external 

 anatomy of the beetle, and their arrangements into sections and 

 families. This, however, is rather dry work at first, and we pre- 

 ferred to niake the paper more of a popular character ; and if by 

 so doing we can interest anyone in the study of our Coleoptera, our 

 object will have been attained. The study of beetles — though they 

 form the first order in the class Insecta — has been very much put 

 aside for the more pleasant one of their brilliant cousins, the butter- 

 flies and moths, and we think unworthily so, playing, as we believe they 

 do, a greater part in the economy of nature than the Lepidoptera. 

 Therefore there is plenty of room for the study of Coleoptera, 

 especially in our own neighbouthood ; and a good collection of 

 local beetles would add very much to the interest of the museum. 

 There is some difficulty in the classification, more so perhaps than 

 other insects ; but this disappears on close application, and the 

 manipulation of them is so easy, that there is little fear of spoiling 

 a specimen after you once have got it. One great drawback in 

 studying the life history of beetles, is the difficulty of rearing them 

 from the larvae, it being impossible to breed many of these 

 artificially, especially the carnivorous ones, and many others take 

 two and three years to come to maturity. 



Taking the few beetles we shall bring forward to-night in their 

 proper order, the first one we have to say anything about is the 

 Common Tiger, known scientifically as Cicindela campestris, 

 section Gcodephaga. This is a good representative of the car- 

 nivorous beetles, its whole life, both during its larval condition and 

 as a mature insect, being one scene^ of raj:y,ne and slaughter. It 

 it also one of our most beautiful insects, its prominent colors 

 being green, yellow, and bronze of many tints; and on seeing it 

 flying^on a_,hot^sunshiny day — in which the beautiful steel blue of 



