to the clafs of coleopterous infects, or fuch as have 

 horny or fhelly (heaths defending their wings, for it is 

 a winged infect, though rarely feen in flight. The 

 genus to which it unqueftionably belongs is that of 

 Ptinus ; but it is remarkable that it does not occur in 

 the twelfth edition of the Syftema Naturae of Linnaeus ; 

 nor has Fabricius diftinctly mentioned it in his en- 

 tomological works, unlefs his Dermejies tejfelatus be 

 intended for the fame infect, in which cafe he muft 

 have placed it in a wrong genus. In the twentieth and 

 twenty-fecond volumes of the Philofophical Transac- 

 tions it has been long ago defcribed, and fome very 

 juft obfervations made relative to its habits and general 

 appearance, by the celebrated Mr. Derham, and it is 

 extremely fingular that fo remarkable an infect mould 

 have aim oft efcaped the notice of more modern ento- 

 mologifts. Ridiculous, and even incredible as it may 

 appear, it is an animal that may in fome meafure 

 be tamed ; at leaft it may be fo far familiarized as 

 to be made to beat occafionally, by taking it out of 

 its confinement and beating on a table or board, which 

 it readily anfwers, and will continue to beat as often 

 as required. 



We muft be careful not to confound this infect, 

 which is the real Death-watch of the vulgar, (em- 

 phatically fo called,) with another infect, which makes 

 a found like the ticking of a watch, and which con- 

 tinues its found for a long time without intermiffion : 

 it belongs to a totally different tribe from the Death- 

 watch, and is the Terrnes pulfatorium of Linnaeus. 

 I (hall conclude this defcription of the Death-watch 

 by a fentence from the celebrated work Pfeudodoxia 



Epidemics, 



