THE TIMBER-BEETLES. 57 



thorax are thickly punctured, and the wing-covers are punc- 

 tured in rows. Its length is about three tenths of an inch. 

 This beetle closely resembles one of the kinds which, in 

 the grub state, is called the wire-worm in Europe, and pos- 

 sibly it may be the same. This circumstance should put us 

 on our guard against its depredations. It is found in April, 

 May, and June, among the roots of grass, on the under-side 

 of boards and rails on the ground, and sometimes also on 

 fences. 



The utility of a knowledge of the natural history of in- 

 sects in the practical arts of life was never more strikingly 

 and triumphantly proved than by Linnaeus himself, who, 

 while giving to natural science its language and its laws, 

 neglected no opportunity to point out its economical advan- 

 tages.* On one occasion this great naturalist was consulted 

 by the King of Sweden upon the cause of the decay and 

 destruction of the ship-timber in the royal dock-yards, and, 

 having traced it to the depredations of insects, and ascer- 

 tained the history of the depredators, by directing the timber 

 to be sunk under water during the season when these insects 

 made their appearance in the winged state, and were busied 

 in laying their eggs, he effectually secured it from future 

 attacks. The name of these insects is Lymexylon navale, the 

 naval timber-destroyer. They have since increased to an 

 alarming extent in some of the dock-yards of France, and in 

 one of them, at least, have become very injurious, wholly in 

 consequence of the neglect of seasonable advice given by a 

 naval officer, who was also an entomologist, and pointed out 

 the source of the injury, together with the remedy to be 

 applied. 



* See the Preface to Smith's " Introduction to Botany," and Pulteney's " View 

 of the Writings of Linnseus," for several examples, one of which it may not be 

 amiss to mention here. Linnaeus was the first to point out the advantages to 

 be derived from employing the Arundo arenaria, or beach-grass, in fixing the 

 sands of the shore, and thereby preventing the encroachments of the sea. The 

 Dutch have long availed themselves of his suggestion, and its utility has been 

 tested to some extent in Massachusetts. 



