218 THE DORR BEETLE. 



odors reach this beetle in such a manner as to rouse so 

 inert an insect into action ! But it is appointed one of 

 the great scavengers of the earth, and marvellously en- 

 dowed with powers of sensation, and means of effecting 

 this purpose of its being. Exquisitely fabricated as it 

 is to receive impressions, yet probably it is not more 

 highly gifted than any of the other innumerable crea- 

 tures, that wing their way around us, or creep about our 

 path, though by this perceptible faculty, thus "dimly 

 seen," it excites our wonder and surprise. " How won- 

 drous then the whole ! " 



This creature affords us a good example of that ex- 

 traordinary artifice, to which some insects have recourse 

 upon the apprehension of danger, the counterfeiting of 

 death. The dorr, with a violent and noisy flight, pro- 

 ceeds on its way, or circles around with an apparent 

 fearlessness of harm ; yet the instant it is touched, or 

 interrupted in its progress, though in no way injured, it 

 will immediately fall to the ground, generally prostrate 

 on its back, its limbs extended, stiff, and seemingly de- 

 void of life, and suffering itself to be handled without 

 manifesting any signs of animation. In time, finding 

 no harm ensues, it resumes its former slate. If our 

 conjectures be correct, that the object of this stratagem 

 is to preserve its life, it is difficult to comprehend how 

 far it can be successful. Several birds feed on it, as 

 we observed ; and that others do so likewise is evident 

 from their castings. Of these, the owl and the nightjar 

 catch it when on the wing ; and the crows, rooks, mag- 

 pies, &c., seem to have no hesitation in picking it to 

 pieces, as well as all the other beetles, that .put on the 

 semblance of death, in whatever state they find them. 

 One or two beasts, it is said, when captured, feign death. 

 With these exceptions, we remember none of the other 

 orders of creation, that have recourse to such an expe- 

 dient upon any emergency ^ but with insects it is by no 

 means an uncommon procedure, most probably resorted 

 to by them for a motive we are not fully acquainted 

 with, and which is in all likelihood attended with the 

 success it was designed to effect. 



The perfect cleanliness of these creatures is a very 



