134 EYE SPY 
nor Russia-leather bag, but only a company of 
beetles sipping in the sun. A banquet of beetles ! 
There were ten or a dozen of them, congregated 
about a hole in the maple trunk, all sipping at a 
furrow in the bark from which sap was oozing. 
At my approach they started to conceal them- 
selves in the hole, but were most of them capt- 
ured. They were about an inch in length, and 
of a purplish - brown color, and glistened like 
bronze. 
I took my prizes home, and determined to an- 
nounce my great discovery to the world in an 
early issue of some scientific paper, fully assured 
that I had made a " great find." Before accom- 
plishing this purpose, however, I thought I would 
consult my "oracle," "Harris's Insects Injurious 
to Vegetation" a most beautiful and valuable 
entomological work, by-the-way, which should be 
in every boy's library. There, on page forty-two, 
behold my odorous specimen, true to life ! And 
what does Harris say about him ? " They are 
nocturnal insects, and conceal themselves through 
the day in the crevices and hollows of trees, where 
they feed upon the sap that flows from the bark. 
They have the odor of Russia-leather, and give 
this out so powerfully that their presence can be 
detected by the scent alone at the distance of two 
or three yards from the place of their retreat. 
This strong smell suggested the name Osmoder- 
