THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUS. 479 



THE DEATH-WATCH PTINUS. 



Notwithstanding its sipallness, this creature is often the cause of 

 serious alarm among the superstitious, from the noise which it makes, 

 at a certain season of the year, resembling the ticking of a watch. 

 From this it has its name; for, whenever this faculty is exerted, it ia 

 esteemed portentive of death to some one of the family in the house 

 where it is heard. The philosopher and the naturalist may smile at 

 a notion thus absurd; yet Sir Thomas Brown has remarked, with 

 great earnestness, that the man, u who could eradicate this error from 

 the minds of the people, would save from many a cold sweat the me- 

 ticulous heads of nurses and grandmothers." 



It is generally in the advanced state of spring, that these insects 

 commence their noise. This is nothing more than a call or signal, 

 by which they are mutually attracted to each other ; and it may be 

 considered as analogous to the call of birds. It is not occasioned by 

 the voice, but by the insect's beating on any hard substance with the 

 shield or fore-part of its head. The general number of successive 

 distinct strokes, is from seven to nine or eleven. These are given in 

 tolerably quick succession, and are repeated at uncertain intervals ; 

 and in old houses, where the insects are numerous, they may be heard 

 during warm weather almost every hour in the day. The noise 

 exactly resembles that made by beating with a nail upon the table. 



This insect, from its obscure grayish brown color, nearly resem- 

 bling that of decayed wood, is difficult to discover: it is consequently 

 not always easy to say from what exact spot the sound proceeds. 

 Mr. Stackhouse observed carefully the manner of its beating. He 

 says, the insect raises itself on its hind legs, and, with the body 

 somewhat inclined, beats its head with great force and agility against 

 the place on which it stands. One of them, on a sedge-bottomed 

 chair, exerted so much force, that its strokes were impressed and 

 visible in the exterior coat of the sedge, for a space equal to that of a 

 silver penny. Mr. Stackhouse took this insect and put it into a box. 

 ,On the following day he opened the box, and set it in the sun. The 

 insect seemed very brisk, and crept about with great activity on the 

 bits of sedge and rotten wood, till at last, getting to the end of the 

 pieces, it extended its wings, and was about to take flight. He then 

 shut down the lid, when it withdrew them, and remained quiet. H<* 

 kept it by him about a fortnight. 



The idea of taming this little animal may appear absurd: it has, 

 however, been so much familiarized, as to be made to beat occasion- 

 ally. On taking it out of its confinement, and beating with the nail 

 or the point of a pen on a table or board, it will answer the beats 

 very readily, and will even continue to repeat its efforts as long as it 

 is required. 



Dr Derham kept a male and female together in a box for about 

 three weeks; and ny imitating their noise, he made them beat when- 



