168 
LETTERS FROM A.LABAMA. 
to perambulate the surface, to the astonishment of 
all who witnessed it. The weight of the bottle 
and its contents could not have been less than 
three pounds and a-half ; while that of the beetle 
was about half an ounce, so that it readily moved 
a weight 112 times exceeding its own. A better 
notion than figures can convey will be obtained of 
this feat, by supposing a lad of fifteen to be im- 
prisoned under the great bell of St. Paul’s, which 
weighs 12,000 lbs. ; and to move it to and fro 
upon a smooth pavement by pushing within. 
Perhaps some analogy to the highly developed 
processes mentioned above may be found in the 
spinous projection of the thorax in many of the 
Longicornes^ a family containing the largest species 
of beetles yet discovered. I am not aware, however, 
that these spines ever take the semblance of horns. 
A rather large species of this family [Prionus im- 
bricornis) occasionally flies into our open houses in 
the evening, attracted, I suppose, by the light. It 
resembles, in general aspect, an English species 
(P. coriareiis). The antennas are long, thick, and 
deeply serrated ; the elytra are chocolate brown ; 
the thorax and head deep black. The eyes are 
largely developed in this genus, often occupying 
the greater portion of the head, and sometimes 
almost the whole of it, meeting and touching each 
other at the crown, as in the present species. The 
development of an organ is generally ascertained 
to bear a marked relation to the economy and 
wants of the animal ; in the predatory Gicindelce 
and Gar obi ^ for instance, the large and prominent 
eyes give an extent of vision that materially aids 
them in discovering prey. But the Prioni are not 
predaceous ; their instinct leads them to the pine 
