BEETLES. 167 



this beetle, whilst others contend that it was the 

 caterpillar of the Goat-moth. 



Dung-beetles, as the name suggests, inhabit dung, 

 or are to be found in its neighbourhood. They are 

 not mentioned so much on account of some of them 

 being occasionally found in woods, as from their 

 historical interest. These insects are possessed of 

 considerable strength, as may be tested by placing 

 them under a book, and watching their movements. 

 Dr. Birchell was supping one evening in a planter's 

 house of North Carolina, when two or three beetles 

 were placed without his knowledge under the candle- 

 stick. A few blows were struck on the table, when, to 

 his great surprise, the candlestick began to move 

 about, apparently without any agency, except that of a 

 spiritual nature, and his surprise was not lessened 

 when, on taking one of them up, he discovered that 

 it was only a beetle that moved. 



These beetles have a habit of enclosing their eggs 

 in round pellets of dung resembling pills, and this 

 habit is associated with the legends and stories of the 

 Egyptians and others, who held the Dung-beetle in 

 esteem, regarding it as sacred. 



The Scarabaeus was considered among the Hindoos 

 as a symbol of the Creator. This association passed 

 from them to the Egyptians, and the sacred beetle is 

 figured extensively upon their monuments. From 

 Egypt the legend of the sacred beetle passed into 

 Scandinavia. Plutarch says that the Scarabaeus was 

 adopted as an emblem of the sun, because these insects 

 cast the seed of generation into round balls of dung, as 

 a genial nidus, and roll them backward with their feet, 



