WOOD-BORING BEETLES 21 



like Hezium, but more stumpy, and entirely destitute of 

 hairs, except on its antennae and legs. It looks more 

 like a great mite than 

 a spider, and from its 

 colour and rotundity 

 has been fancifully com- 

 pared, especially when 

 tucking its legs underits 

 body, to a drop of blood. FIG - 9--Gibbium scotias. 



At Newcastle this insect has been found in some 

 numbers in a dry cupboard, where, it would seem, 

 they had obtained a comfortable living from the wall- 

 paper and the dried remains of the paste with which 

 it had been hung. This latter is a very favourite repast 

 with several small insects that are pests in Natural 

 History collections; it is well, therefore, to take the 

 precaution to mix a little corrosive sublimate with the 

 paste used in preparing the mounting-boards for zoo- 

 logical specimens, that by being thus poisoned, it may 

 become safe from the attacks of the tiny depredators. 



GibHum has also been found amongst old hay, and 

 on one occasion a heap of their carcases was discovered 

 amongst a resinous substance in a vase obtained from 

 a mummy at Thebes, but whether they were an ori- 

 ginal embalmment or a subsequent invasion was not 

 very clear. 



