ON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF GOD 



Pityophthorus sparsus Lee, or "White pine 

 wood engraver." It was not till the follow- 

 ing summer, however, that the masterpiece 

 of the grove was discovered, just as it was 

 about to be fed to the flames of the camp- 

 fire, a circumstance which will recall parallel 

 cases in the history of manuscripts by more 

 consequential authors of the human race. 

 Yet, however obscure the birth and environ- 

 ment of these lowly artists, it gives one chilly 

 pause to remember how near our reckless 

 camp -party came to destroying what may 

 prove to be the magnum opus of the Shake- 

 speare of Beetledom, unless some heartless 

 whiffler should successfully Baconize its 

 fame with the critical dust of barren and 

 irrelevant pedantry. 



Compared with the final masterpiece dis- 

 covered (from which the accompanying 

 photographs were taken) all the other picto- 

 graphs found were obviously the work of 

 mere amateurs, hacks, or feeble imitators. 

 For among beetles (Scolytidae) as among 

 more evolved artists, one star differeth from 

 another star in glory. But this particular 



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