DEATH-WATCH. 
267 
ped of its outward coat for the space of half an inch 
by the insect, which stood upon the bulbous part, 
and beat upon the outside with such force, that it 
was visibly depressed where it had beaten, for a 
space equal to the size of a silver penny. Mr. 
Stackhouse put the insect into a box, which he 
opened on the following day, and set in the sun. 
The little animal seemed very brisk, and crept back- 
wards and forwards along the pieces of sedge and 
rotten wood that had been put into the box with it ; 
till at length, getting to the end of one of the pieces, 
it extended its wings, and was about to fly, when 
Mr. Stackhouse shut down the lid and again secured 
his prisoner, which soon afterwards became quiet. 
“ I could not before perceive,” says this gentleman, 
“ though I had the use of a tolerably good glass, 
any the least sign of a fissure upon its back; and for 
that reason did greatly question whether it had any 
wings or ,not, till I set it in the sun. The head of 
the insect appears to be of a very fine contexture, 
as it is seen when it creeps about and stretches it 
forward ; but when it is drawn up under its galea it 
seems to be covered with a membrane thick set with 
fine hairs. It lived with me about a fortnight, but 
I could never perceive that it beat after it was con- 
fined in the box.” The animal greatly resembles the 
colour of decayed wood, being of a dull grayish 
brown, and having several marks upon the wing- 
cases of a lighter cast. The length of the insect is 
about a quarter of an inch. 
Dr. Shaw very properly observes, that we ought 
