120 THE SERBICORNIA. 



young surgeon who was attending his fellow-prisoner, 

 observing his delight, begged the Beetle of him for a 

 friend who had a collection of insects, this was 

 Bory de Saint- Vincent, who immediately exerted his 

 interest in favour of the prisoner, and finally obtained 

 his pardon. By this singular chance was the greatest 

 of French entomologists preserved to his country, for 

 the ship in which he was to have embarked was lost 

 before she had proceeded far on her voyage, and only 

 the crew contrived to save themselves. 



Besides the insects just described, which from their 

 carnivorous propensities must be regarded as bene- 

 factors to mankind (with the exception of the species 

 which finds a home in our hives), this section of the 

 Serricorn Beetles includes some which are very inju- 

 rious. Some of these have a partiality for dried 

 animal matters, such as skins and furs, to which they 

 sometimes do considerable damage ; but the majority 

 are devourers of wood, in which they often burrow to 

 such an extent, as to reduce timbers and furniture to 

 a mere mass of powder enclosed in a shell. The 

 perfect Beetles make their exit by eating out to the 

 surface, where they make small round holes, and 

 these may sometimes be observed even in hard wood, 

 such as mahogany, although, as a general rule, the 

 insects appear to find deal more suitable to their 

 jaws. The most destructive of these insects belong 

 to the genus Anobium, of which one little dingy 

 species (the A. striatum) is exceedingly abundant in 

 old houses. Like all its congeners, this little Beetle 

 has the power of producing a loud ticking noise, by 

 tapping with its head against the walls of its little 

 burrow. From the resemblance of the sound thus 

 produced to the ticking of a watch, the Beetle has 



