VI PREFACE. 



to our lists since Linnieus first published his Sy- 

 stema Naturce, and the still increasing numbers 

 which daily arrive from the most remote quarters 

 of the globe, or which swell our indigenous cata- 

 logues in proportion as our Fauna is explored, 

 render it almost impossible for the naturalist to 

 study in detail, more than one department of that 

 -which may be his favourite science. Of entomology 

 in particular there are no bounds to the stores, and 

 it may truly be said of insects, 



" Sed neque quam multcz species nee nomina qu& shit 



" Est numerus" 



Amidst these countless multitudes, the animals 

 which compose the Linnaean genus Scarah(£us ap- 

 pear in all ages to have attracted the notice of 

 the admirers of nature. This may have been 

 partly owing to their size, and partly to their splen- 

 dour; but still more likely to the celebrity of the 

 'HA/opcai'^afOf, or Scarabaus pilularius of the an- 

 cients, — an insect which from the singularity of its 

 form and manners, became even an object of ve- 

 neration and worship with the ancient Egyp- 

 tians. 



Indeed it was the peculiar interest which the 

 ScarabcEus sacer of Linnteus excited, as being a 

 principal among the many objects " qualia de- 

 mQis JEgyptus coluit^'' that first led the author to 

 investigate its natural history with the intention of 



