134 EYE SPY 



nor Russia-leather bag, but only a company of 

 beetles sipping in the sun. A banquet of beetles ! 

 There were ten or a dozen of them, congregated 

 about a hole in the maple trunk, all sipping at a 

 furrow in the bark from which sap was oozing. 

 At my approach they started to conceal them- 

 selves in the hole, but were most of them capt- 

 ured. They were about an inch in length, and 

 of a purplish - brown color, and glistened like 

 bronze. 



I took my prizes home, and determined to an- 

 nounce my great discovery to the world in an 

 early issue of some scientific paper, fully assured 

 that I had made a " great find." Before accom- 

 plishing this purpose, however, I thought J would 

 consult my "oracle," " Harris's Insects Injurious 

 to Vegetation " — a most beautiful and valuable 

 entomological work, by-the-way, which should be 

 in every boy's library. There, on page forty-two, 

 behold my odorous specimen, true to life ! And 

 what does Harris say about him ? " They are 

 nocturnal insects, and conceal themselves through 

 the day in the crevices and hollows of trees, where 

 they feed upon the sap that flows from the bark. 

 They have the odor of Russia-leather, and give 

 this out so powerfully that their presence can be 

 detected by the scent alone at the distance of two 

 or three yards from the place of their retreat. 

 This strong smell suggested the name Osmoder- 



