COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 
77 
the Count de Jean at Paris, one of the most exten- 
sive that exists, contained no fewer than 20,000 
species. Many others are no doubt to be found in 
different collections ; and when we take into account 
the discoveries daily made by the numerous culti- 
vators of this branch of zoology, and the extent and 
fertility of the countries with the insect productions 
of which we are wholly unacquainted, there seems 
reason to believe that it cannot be much short of 
30,000 — that is 10,000 above the estimate formed 
by Ray nearly a century and a half ago, as the pro- 
bable amount of the whole class of insects ! 
This order comprehends some of the largest as 
well as the most minute insects with which we are 
acquainted. Certain orthopterous species belonging 
to the genus Phasma surpass them in length, and 
several gigantic moths are of greater superficial ex- 
tent ; but in many beetles length of body is com- 
bined with a proportionate breadth and thickness, 
which renders them the most bulky and massive of 
their class. A fine specimen of Prionus giganteus 
measures nearly half a foot in length, the breadth 
is about two inches, and the expansion of the wings 
is nine inches. A handsome and scarce species of 
the same family ( Prionus armillatus) is about five 
inches long and one inch and three quarters broad, 
and the antennae, which are very strong and rigid, are 
upwards of six inches in length. The Hercules beetle 
( Dynastes Hercules ), and Scarabaeus Actaeon, mea- 
sure respectively about four and a half inches in length 
