JcT 



jjF all the insects which occasionally 

 claim our attention in our country 

 rambles, there is probably no ex- 

 ample more entitled to our distin- 

 guished consideration than the ple- 

 beian, commonly despised, but ad- 

 mittedly amusing beetle known the 

 country over as the funny " tumble- 

 bug." As we see him now, so he has always been 

 the same in appearance, the same in habits ; yet 

 how has he fallen from grace! how humbled in the 

 eyes of man from that original high estate when, 

 in ancient Egypt, he enjoyed the prestige above all 

 insects where, as the sacred " scarabaeus," he was 

 dignified as the emblem of immortality, and wor- 

 shipped as a god ! The archaeological history of 

 Egypt is rich in reminders of his former emi- 

 nence. Not only do we see his familiar shape (as 

 shown in our initial design) everywhere among 



