THE DEATH-WATCH BEETLE. 7 



of a large watch. The poor invalid, as he lies in 

 bed perhaps very nervous and unable to bear loud 

 conversation, hears the noisy insects knocking one 

 to the other, and immediately 

 his mind is filled with fears of 

 the most groundless kind, which 

 the nurse, if she is one of the 

 old school, is sure to confirm by 

 telling him that this ticking is 



. 1 i , i , i Death-watch Beetle. 



the death-watch. 



All this is not only very weak and foolish, but 

 when it reaches the degree to which we have here 

 referred, it is also very wrong. As to the death's 

 head hawk moth producing disease or foretelling 

 death and famine, as it has been said to do, how 

 weak and credulous must they be who draw such 

 omens from a mark on an insect's head ; and how 

 dishonouring is it to the all- wise providence of God 

 to imagine that he would suffer such a ridiculous 

 emblem to have any such actual signification ! 

 The little beetle which produces the ticking sounds 

 was caught by Dr. Derham one fine sunshiny 

 day, tapping as loudly as it could on a piece of 

 paper in a window ; he examined the little creatures 

 and kept them carefully, and he states that during 



