BEETLE AMULETS. 211 



posed to be very efficacious during the time of teething, and to 

 mitigate the various ills to which juvenile humanitv is liable. 

 Deceived by the shape of these amulets, some of the earlier 

 travellers described them as whistles. 



There are many species of Brachycerus, differing exceedingly 

 in shape, size, and colour. One of these, called appropriately 

 Brachycerus obesus, or the "fat short-horn," is as round and 

 smooth as a black-heart cherry, and very much of the same 

 colour ; while another, Brachycerus ocellatus, though much 

 resembling it in form, has the whole surface of the elytra 

 adorned with parallel undulating lines of red on a black ground. 



On some of the insects of this genus Mr. Westwood has the 

 following remarks : — " The species of the genus Brachycerus are 

 found upon the ground in hot sandy situations, early in the 

 spring. An anonymous writer informs us that Brachycerus 

 nndatus feeds on the leaves of Arum arisarum in October. 

 Brachycerus barbarus attacks the medicinal squill, several being 

 generally found at the heart of the leaves near the root. Bra- 

 chycerus Algerus feeds on the leaves of a large lily growing in 

 sea-sand. Latreille informs us, in the appendix to ' Caillaud's 

 Voyages,' that the women in Ethiopia string these insects 

 together, and wear them round tbeir necks as an amulet." 



From the last sentence it is evident that the superstitious 

 ideas concerning the preservative virtues of these Beetles have 

 a very wide scope, since we find that both in Southern Africa 

 and in Ethiopia the same insects are used in the same manner 

 and for the same purpose. 



Next we come to the family of the Pachyrhyncidee. This 

 name is formed from two Greek words, signifying " thick- 

 mouthed," and is given to these Beetles because the rostrum is 

 very short, thick, and rounded ; so short, in fact, that when the 

 insect is viewed from above, no portion of the rostrum is to be 

 seen, and a profile view is required before the real shape of the 

 head can be made out. 



The species which is represented in the first of the illustra- 

 tions on the next page is called Pachyrhynchus gemmatus, because 

 the large green spots with which its metallic body is covered 

 look very much like emeralds set in red gold. It is a native of 

 the Philippines. 



p 2 



