ANALYSIS. 495 



Instruments in cibariis haud valida patet distinctio. 



Confer H. E. vol. 1. p. 134. et Sturm Ent. Hand. tab. iii. 



Caput subtrigonum vel rhomboideum nunquam cornutum ; cly- 

 peo radiato bidentato vel emarginato. Thorax ellipticus 

 marginatus puncto saepe indistincto utrinque impressus, ab- 

 domine semper latior, lateribus marginatis. Pectus irregu- 

 lare. Pedes validi. Tibiae trigonae ad apicem spina unica 

 instructs ; anticas tri- vel quadri-dentatae tarsis plerumque 

 obsoletis ; posticas conicae ad apicem oblique truncatae tarsis 

 gracillimis setaceis unguibus duobus munitis. 



Obs. Color plerumque niger haud raro metallicus. 

 Hoc in circulo quatuor formes, typos adhuc solum vidi. 



With respect to the geography of this genus, I may 

 mention that out of 43 known species, 27 may be found 

 in Africa. 



The first type extends from the Atlantic Ocean to Thi- 

 bet, and from Austria to the Cape of Good Hope. The 

 second type, however, appears to be confined to the north 

 of Africa, and the third to the south. The fourth type has 

 not yet been found ; and the fifth inhabits all that tract of 

 country which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the 

 Chinese sea — from Paris to tne Cape of Good Hope. 



Creutzer, in his Entomologische Persuche, a little work 

 published in 1799, and containing many excellent obser- 

 vations on the science, has stated, that S. sacer, latkoUis, 

 impius, semipunctatus, variolosus, and morbillosus, do not 

 possess that character which Illiger had assigned to the 

 genus Copris. In other words, they have not the middle 

 feet distant at their base. On the contrary, it is remarked 

 by Creutzer, that their middle coxas are as near to each 

 other as those of the first and last pair of feet. This cir- 

 cumstance, therefore, with their different habitus, induced 



