EDITOEIAL GLEANINGS. 237 



once. I should say that at a very modest estimate the skin is worth at 

 least 600 guineas. There are a good many who, I have no doubt, would 

 put it down at 1000 guineas. Here then is a veritable gem, the possession 

 of which alone ought to act as a powerful lever in inducing the Council to 

 provide a proper museum in which to house it. It is, I believe, now locked 

 up in an iron safe in the possession of Mr. Whitworth Wallis." In this 

 collection there appears to have been a most formidable weeding-out process. 



In the ■ Zambesi Mission Record,' a Catholic publication, we notice an 

 interesting article by Father O'Neil, S.J., on " Some interesting Beetles," 

 as observed in South Africa. " ■ Tockies ' are large heteromerous beetles, 

 generally black or brown in colour. They have been called ■ Tockies ' in 

 consequence of a habit they have of knocking loudly on the ground to 

 attract their mates. Let us watch one of these insects walking about in 

 search of a partner. It advances a few paces, then stops, and, raising a 

 rather unwieldly body on its long legs, gives four or five rapid knocks in 

 succession. Then there is a pause, a further advance, and the knocking 

 is repeated. After a bit answering knocks are heard, and our Tocky sets 

 to work knocking most vigorously to aid in the determination of his where- 

 abouts. As might be expected, the Tockies have given rise to many a 

 ghost story. Though they walk about a good deal during the daytime, they 

 are especially active at night ; and, when doors are left open after dark, 

 will frequently enter the bedrooms. Then in the dead of the night some 

 unfortunate individual is awakened by a loud knock, knock, knock. If he 

 be of a nervous disposition, and unfamiliar with our rapping friends, the 

 result can be imagined. I know a pious gentleman who one night was 

 firmly persuaded that one of the holy souls had come knocking for prayers. 

 Here in Dunbrody the Tockies are often very troublesome, owing to the 

 fact that our ceilings consist of thin laths, which make glorious sounding 

 boards. One particular kind of Tocky will insist upon climbing up the 

 walls of the house, and hammering away overhead at night time. More 

 than one member of the community, myself among the number, have been 

 kept awake during the greater part of the night by an almost uninterrupted 

 tattoo. The noise the beetle makes when exercising itself on these laths 

 is just like a loud knocking at a door. Not long ago one of them started 

 rapping overhead about supper time. ' Come in,' cried the reverend 

 father, whose room adjoins mine. ' Knock, knock, knock,' replied the 

 Tocky. * Come in,' shouted his reverence this time. My laughter un- 

 fortunately put a stop to the fun. I must not dismiss the Tockies with- 

 out alluding to their omnivorous quality. Though it generally feeds on 

 plants of one kind or another, the beetle seems to be capable of devouring 



