TROJECTS FOR UTILISING THE COCKCHAFER. 117 



above the soil as it did below. In the larval state it fcvl upon 

 the roots of grasses, and was out of sight ; it now feeds on the 

 leaves of trees, and is out of reach. In this way the Beetles are 

 scarcely less mischievous than they were in their former state, for 

 they will sometimes denude whole tracts of trees, so that, in the 

 full beauty of summer-tide, the trees look as if the season were 

 the depth of winter. In this country we are almost ignorant 

 of the harm which the Cockchafer can do, for, although our 

 crops and potatoes often suffer severely from its attacks, they 

 are not wholly ruined, as is the case on the Continent. In 

 consequence of the noxious character of this Beetle, I never had 

 the least scruple in killing it, and can strongly recommend it 

 to my readers as an excellent 'subject' for the study of insect 

 anatomy. Tlius a double service is rendered : first to the 

 country by its death, which prevents it from perpetuating a nu- 

 merous progeny ; and next to the investigator, because it affords 

 him a subject which will train both the hand and the eye, and 

 which can be so easily obtained that he need not be afraid of 

 spoiling a few specimens. Although this Beetle is at present 

 nothing but an luimitigated pest, I cannot but think that it 

 may yet be made to turn to the service of man. I should 

 not wonder if the silkworm were originally a great plague to 

 gardeners until its real value was discovered, and so it is not 

 utterly impossible that some mode may be found of turning the 

 Cockchafer to account. At present it is but of little use to man. 

 It is employed rather largely during its brief existence in the 

 Beetle state as bait for sea-fish, and there has been an attempt 

 made to procure a sort of coarse oil from the fat bodies of the 

 grubs. Some utilitarians, of abnormal boldness, have proposed 

 that it might be prepared as an article of food, and have sug- 

 gested that it may be thought as much a delicacy as is the palm- 

 worm of the West Indies. But they entirely forget that the 

 palm-worm lives in the interior of trees, and that it contains 

 nothing but vegetable matter, whereas a full-grown Cockchafer 

 grub contains a full thimbleful of earth, a substance which no 

 amount of cooking could render palatable. 



The family of the Geotrupidse has eleven joints in the an- 

 tenna, of which three form the club, and the margin of the 

 head divides the eyes somewhat like the structure of the 



