132 
fufficiently acute to view thefe things per- 
fectly, it is neceffary to invent and find out 
all kinds of affiftances and artificial contri- 
vances proper for affifting the fight, by the 
help of which ‘thefe things may be diftinélly 
feen. By this means, and no other, we can 
attain to know with what order, meafure, 
rule and wifdom God’s creatures are all formed, 
and how they depreciate all the work of hu- 
man art and induftry, the latter not being able 
to bear too near an infpection. The beft of 
them only exprefS the external ornaments, 
wherewith the furface as it were of God’s 
works are covered; and they are therefore 
deftitute of that true food of the mind, where- 
with the works of God abound. ‘The more 
accurately thefe are examined, and the more 
perfectly they are explained, the more wonder- 
_ ful, lovely, and adorable they always proclaim 
their Creator. Though many works of art, 
which derive their powers from nature and 
the effects of regular motions, perform won- 
derful things; yet when they are more inti- 
mately examined and inveftigated, they imme- 
diately betray the imperfect condition of the 
artificer. "Therefore all the mafterly touches 
of Apelles, compared to the very refined 
lines of nature, are only rude, unpolifhed and 
coarfe; and all the fplendor of tapeftry finifhed 
by human art vanifhes, when only one of 
nature's works contained in a fingle pulmo- 
nary tube of an infect is produced: who can 
delineate even this, the leaft of thefe wonders, 
with adequate dignity? what genius is able to 
defcribe, or what induftry can inveftigate it? 
our eyes and fingers, and all the powers of our 
underftanding are deficient in this refpect, as 
will be evident from what I fhall prefently fhew 
Cc H A 
Of the places wherein thefe Beetles live : 
The BOOK.of NAM URE: or, 
concerning the lungs of the Rhinoceros or nofe- 
horned Beetle ; and thus it wil! be at the fame 
time moft ftrongly demonftrated, that the 
works of God are moft wonderful in the {mall- 
eft objects. Thus I conclude this introduétion, 
crying out with the royal prophet: ‘ I praife 
** thee, becaufe in beholding thy works Iam 
“« tranfported with admiration: I celebrate thy 
“* wonderful works when my mind is moft 
“© enlightened.” 
' Though TI fhall attempt in the following 
pages to defcribe to the praife and glory of 
the fupreme being, the whole change, or, if I 
may fo call it, the tranfcretion of the nofe-horned 
Beetle, confecrated of old to Mercury, and ex- 
pofe to public view its origin, life and propa- 
gation; yet I would not have any one think, 
that I intend to give its accurate and perfect 
hiftory. As I happened to be diffecting one of | 
thefe Beetles in July laft year, in the prefence 
of the very learned and experienced phyfician 
Dr. Matthew Slade, I difcovered the wonder- 
ful conftruction of its general parts. I was 
thence led to examine into its origin, and made 
a diffection of the Worm out of which it is 
produced. This having been the occafion of 
the hiftory that I fhall here exhibit, it will con- 
tain no more than an accurate narrative of thofe 
things, which I then and afterwards remarked 
in regard both to the internal and external parts 
of this infect. But if God gives me health 
and feifure, I fhall probably at fome other time 
profecute this fubjeCt much further, though 
what I now advance is fufficient to fatisfy the 
moft. curious adorers of divine miracles, being 
of the greateft importance and moft wonderful 
dignity. 
P, I. 
of their generation, eggs, Worms and 
food; how long they are feeding ; with varous other uncommon incidents. 
S to the places wherein the Rhinoceros or 
nofe-horned Beetles commonly live, they 
are moft ufually our docks and yards, where 
they lie among the chips and faw-duft, and in 
the afhes of reeds which are burned in tarring of 
fhips, and among the rubbifh of kitchen gar- 
dens; in the remains of the fumach wherewith 
leather has been tanned ; as alfo about old trees, 
and in rotten wood. 
Thefe Beetles generate in the months of 
June and July ; the male, Tab. XVII. fig. 1, 
alone has that remarkable horn on his_nofe, 
whence the fpecies is named nofe-horned; the 
female is fomewhat larger, fig. 11. the male 
gets upon the female, and with the horny or 
bony part of its penis, as with two crooked 
claws, fixes himfelf upon the horny or bony 
part, which conftitutes the vulva of the fe- 
male; by this means the female cannot efcape, 
and the male in this manner injects his fperm, 
which it has in great quantity, and fo impreg- 
nates the female. In the fame manner the 
male Butterfly of the Silkworms holds its fe- 
male faft by the affiftance of two crooked and 
horny claws, fixing himfelf on the horny or 
bony ring, in the hinder part of the female’s 
body, and by this means engenders with her, 
as not being then able to get away from him. 
The males are fo very violent on this occafion, 
that they will fix themfelves to the females after 
they are dead; and they are hooked fo ftrongly 
together, that you may tear them to pieces 
eafier than feparate them. 
After coition the female Beetles in this {pe- 
cies penetrate deeper into the wood or other 
matter ; they inhabit and lay their eggs there, 
not in heaps but {catteredly and at diftances. 
The annexed figure 111. exhibits the magnitude 
of thefe eggs, though fome of them @ are 
often obferved to be greater than others 4, as 
one 
