612 SCARAB.EUS 



known as an edible in our fish markets, that a minute 

 description is needless. The animal is precisely 

 similar to that of every other species of Pecten ; as a 

 delicacy for the table it is much admired by some 

 gastronomers, and we will only add a few remarks 

 upon what may be termed its historical character. The 

 scallop shells were abundantly found on the shores of 

 Palestine, and the chivalric crusaders of olden times, 

 as well as pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land to 

 expiate some sin, or to accomplish some thought- 

 less vow to their mistress, affixed one of the valves to 

 some portion of their dress, to indicate beyond all 

 doubt that they had crossed the sea in pursuit of 

 their pious purpose ; those who survived the perils of 

 their pilgrimage preserved this emblem as an armorial 

 distinction, still to be found in the heraldic quarterings 

 of many English and other families of ancient descent. 

 Our native poets and minstrels, with the troubadours 

 of old, often sang of this distinctive honour, and Mac- 

 pherson informs us .that in the dreamy days of Fin- 

 gal's cloudy songs, these shells were introduced into 

 the feasts of heroes as the cupof their festive libations, 

 by the Gaelic name of sligha creachin, or the drinking 

 shell ; and, to the present time, the valve of a large 

 species of scallop is used, for the less classic but more 

 useful purpose of skimming milk by the hands of the 

 industrious daughters of Scotia, in the Hebrides, and 

 other parts of Scotland. The ghosts of antiquity 

 appear to have been content with a very moderate 

 libation in honour of their heroes, as we cannot ima- 

 gine the draught could have been long or deep, 

 which the scallop shell supplied ; but of their size, or 

 the frequency of their being replenished, Fingal does 

 not speak. Temperance societies were certainly not 

 introduced at that period, and if the many tongues of 

 Fame are to be believed, they have not yet made 

 great, progress in our sister kingdom ; as a step to their 

 completion we, however, recommend the toddy 

 lovers to commence their reformation by drinking 

 out of scallop shells. 



Many fanciful tales are related in the poetical lan- 

 guage of modern-would-be naturalists of the scallop 

 being capable of expanding one valve to answer the 

 purpose of a mainsail, and thus floating in fleets on 

 the calm surface of the ocean tide ; we are, however, 

 sceptical, and the fact must rest upon better evidence 

 than a poet's dream ere we lend our faith to it. The 

 genus Pecten certainly possesses the faculty of spring- 

 ing on the sandy shore by the contraction of its foot, 

 and it is possible that its progress through the deep 

 sea may be effected by the sudden expansion and 

 contraction of its valves acting as a propelling force 

 against the watery medium ; but we are yet ignorant of 

 their habits of life to that extent. The flimsy tissue of 

 fiction has been thrown around many objects of na- 

 tural history, and it is difficult to forget our nursery 

 tales, but the march of intellect will divest them of 

 their marvellous attributes ; and it may be added, that 

 many of the tales of antiquity, when shorn of these, 

 are found to possess some foundation in truth, though 

 so strongly distorted by fictitious additions and igno- 

 rant superstitious credulity : thus, seals may become 

 mermaids, the eider-duck a phoenix, and the anatifa 

 a soland goose ; not to enumerate many other in- 

 stances in the annals of natural history illustrative 

 of the poetic effusions of vivacious minds. 



SCARAB^EUS (Linnaeus). Under this generic 

 name Linnaeus comprised a very extensive tribe of 

 coleopterous insects, placed by him at the head of the 



SCARITID.E. 



insect tribes and answering to the Pclalocera of Do- 

 meril as well as the Latreillian section Lamellicorncs, 

 (including, however, the Lucanidce), under which latter 

 name we have given a sketch of the modern distribution 

 of this interesting group. By the French entomologists 

 of the present day, as well as by some English writers, 

 the name is still retained generically, for the gigantic 

 insects placed oy LinnaAis at the head of the genus, 

 such as the elephant and hercules beetles, &c., of the 

 latter of which a figure is given in the article DY- 

 NASTES, which is the name given to them by Mac- 

 Leay and Kirby, whilst by the Germans these gigan- . 

 tic species are called Gcotrupes. Mr. MacLeay, on 

 the other hand, gives the generic name Scarab&us, 

 and the sub-generic one Heliocantharus, to the sa- 

 cred beetles of the Egyptians (see HELIOCANTHARUSJ, 

 and the name Geotrupes to the shardborn beetles 

 (see GEOTRDPES). Nothing can be more trouble- 

 some than this uncertainty and constant changing of 

 generic names, which cannot however be remedied 

 so long as naturalists are not agreed upon the most 

 fundamental principles of zoological nomenclature. 

 We have already given under the article LAMELLI- 

 COHNES the chief characters and disposition of this 

 group. 



SCARITID^E, or more properly SCARITIDES, a sub- 

 family of the predaceous land-bettles Carabidce, hav- 

 ing the elytra entire and rounded behind, the antennae 

 elbowed, the thorax separated from the base of the 

 elytra by a distinct peduncle. The anterior tarsi of 

 the males are not dilated, and the anterior tibife di- 

 lated and pal mated, or deeply notched. This latter 

 character indicates the chief habits of the group, that 

 of burrow ing into sand in the neighbourhood of the 

 sea, or in the banks of water. They chiefly frequent 

 hot climes, some few, and these of small size, being 

 found in this country. They keep close in their re- 

 treats during the day, but come abroad at night to 

 feed upon any insects or dead matter which they 

 can find. M. Lefebure de Cerisy, a distinguished 

 entomologist at Marseilles, has employed the follow- 

 ing method for capturing the Scarites Pyracmon. 

 During the day he deposits a quantity of dead cock- 

 chaffers (Melolontha vtilgaris) in those situations 

 where the Scarites is probably an inhabitant, and then 

 examines the insects at night with a lantern, when he 

 generally meets with them in the act of feeding upon 

 their prey. The species are for the most part black 

 and very glossy. The genera belonging to this sub- 

 family are : Enceladus, Siagona, Coscinia, Melaenus, 

 Carenum, Scarites, Acanthoscelis, Oxystomus, Oxyg- 

 nathus, Camptodontus, Pasirnachus, C/ivina, Dyschi- 

 rius, Ozcena, Scapterus, Carterus, Odogenius, Pachy- 

 carus, Morio, Ditomus, Distomus, Aristus, and Apo- 

 tomus. Those printed in italics contain British 

 species. 



The typical genus Scarites is distinguished by hav- 

 ing the fore tibia; palmated, the mandibles strong 

 toothed, and the thorax semilunate. There is only 

 one British species (Sc. Beckwithii) of which three 

 specimens only have been noticed, one of which was 

 captured on the Yorkshire coast. 



In CLIVINA (which see) the thorax is quadrate, 

 and in Dyschirius globose. The following observa- 

 tions upon i he habits of a large species of the latter 

 genus have been published by the Rev. Mr. Rudd in 

 the Entomological Magazine. This species occurs 

 in great abundance in the sandy shores of the estuary 

 of the Tees, and in turning up the sandy tracks or 



