vi PREFACE. 



to our lists since Linnasus first published his oj/- 

 stema Natures, 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, 



f Sed neque quam multcB species nee nomina qu& sint 



il Est numerus" 



Amidst these countless multitudes, the animals 

 which compose the Linnaean genus Scarabceus 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 

 'HkioxxvSagog, or Scarabceus pitu tar ius 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 Linnaeus excited, as beino- a 

 principal among the many objects " qualia Se- 

 mens JEgyptus coluit? that first led the author to 

 investigate its natural history with the intention of 



