Moths supposed to be, 243;
of industrious from Ants, 150.
Sound as a Roach, 79.
South America, Ants in, 160;
Goliath-beetle, 46;
Grou-grou worm, 69;
Hercules-beetle, 45-46;
Termites, 132-137.
Spain, Bees in, 212;
Cantharides, 63;
Locusts, 102-130;
Silk-worms, 237.
_Spanish-flies_, 62.
Spanish Inquisition, detectives of, called Flies, 292.
_Span-worms_, 248.
Sparrman, Dr., anecdote of, 366.
Spawn, fish, Locusts hatched from, 118;
sold for eggs of Silk-worms, 241.
Spectacles, Hornets’ nest to clean, 172.
Speke, Capt., beetle in the ear of, 79, n.
_Spiders_, 61, 99, 113, 193, 322, 324, 332-362, 370.
Spirits, Ants and lizards eaten by, 161.
Sphex, notion respecting, 174.
_Sphingidæ_, 232-234.
_Sphinx Atropos_, 232.
_(Deilephila) hippophaes_, 367.
_ligustris_, 233.
_Spring-beetles_, 51-55.
Spring, Scarab symbolical of, 33.
Squill for sting of Scorpions, 326.
_Stag-beetles_, 24-27.
Stag, feet of, to drive away Bugs, 266.
_Sternocera chrysis_, 50.
_sternicornis_, 50.
Stick-lac, 263.
Stiffness in knees cured by Ants, 162.
Sting of Bees, Hornets, etc., remedies for, 174, 193.
Stockings, silk, 238.
Stolen Bees will not thrive, 184.
Stomach, insects introduced into the human, 67.
Stone, Bedeguar for, 144;
Glow-worm, 57;
Scorpions, 329.
Storm, prognostication of, from Gnats, 280.
Strangles in horses, combs of Hornets for, 172.
Strangury, Bed-bugs for, 267;
Bees, 206.
Strength of Dung-beetle, 28;
Flea, 311;
Stag-beetle, 25.
Success foretold by Glow-worm, 57.
Sudorific, Cochineal as a, 262.
Sumatra, Cricket in, 96.
Sun, Ants sacrificed to, 153;
Flies, 292;
Scarab sacred to, 30;
the first worship of the, 36.
Superstitions connected with Agaric-Gnat, 286;
Ants, 151;
_Acanthocinus ædilis_, 73;
Army-worm, 247;
Butterflies, 229;
Caterpillars, 242;
Cockroaches, 80-82;
Crickets, 92-95;
Death-watch, 58-61, 91;
Death’s-head Moth, 232;
Dragon-flies, 138, 140;
Dung-beetle, 28;
Ear-wig, 76;
Flies, 290;
Gall-flies, 143;
Glow-worm, 57;
Grasshoppers, 98, 100;
Katy-did, 131;
Lady-birds, 17-23;
Locusts, 119;
Mantis, 82-92;
Silk-worms, 239;
Stag-beetles, 25;
Scorpions, 322-331;
Spiders, 339;
Wasps and Hornets, 173;
Span-worms, 248.
Surinam, Cicadas in, 254;
Fire-ants, 157;
Gnats, 280;
Lantern-flies, 255.
Surat, hospital at, for animals, 266.
Swallow, heart of, for lunacy, 330;
odious and impious, 251.
Swammerdam, anecdote of, 363.
Swarms of Ants, 164;
Aphides, 258;
Butterflies, 225;
Cantharides, 64;
Day-flies, 138;
Dragon-flies, 139-140;
Flies, 287;
Gnats, 278;
Lady-birds, 21;
May-bugs, 48.
Swarming of Bees, notions concerning, 185-190.
Sweat, Fleas generated from, 305.
Sweden, _Acanthocinus ædilis_ in, 73;
Ants, 161;
_Blaps mortisaga_, 65;
Fleas, 308;
Grasshoppers, 100;
Lady-bird, 17;
Lice, 316.
Switzerland, Caterpillars in, 158, n.
Swoonings, wax to prevent, 254.
Sword, in charm to destroy Fleas, 308.
Sybils resorted to, to drive away Locusts, 113.
Syria, Galls from, 145;
Locusts in, 103-130.
Tamableness of the Fly, 289.
Tarantula, 351.
Taylor, Mrs., and her Crickets, 95;
Mantis, 88-90.
_Telephorus fuscus_, 364.
Tempests raised by magicians, 45.
Tendons, Stag-beetle for contractions of, 26.
_Tenebrio molitor_, 65, 68.
_Tenebrionidæ_, 65.
Teneriffe, Locusts in Island of, 104.
Tennessee, bloody-rain in, 224.
Terambus transformed into the Cerambyx, 73.
_Terias lisa_, 227.
_Termes bellicosus_, 135.
_Termites_, 132-137.
_Termitidæ_, 132-137.
Tertian ague, Bed-bugs for, 268;
Spiders, 359.
Tettix, 250.
Thebes, Spiders in, 338.
Thor, Dung-beetle sacred to, 28.
Thread, sewing, Spider’s web used for, 362.
Throat, Crickets for affections of, 96.
Tiberias Cæsar, death of, foretold by Ants, 151.
Tiffin and Son, Bug-destroyers in London, 268.
Timour and the Ant, 154.
Timpany, Spiders for, 360.
_Tinea padilla_, 248.
_punctata_, 248.
_tapetzella_, 249.
_Tineidæ_, 248, 249.
_Tipulidæ_, 286.
Toads, enmity between Spiders and, 341.
Tobacco, clay of Ant-hills as substitute for, 135.
Toothache, Curculios for, 71;
Lady-bird, 21;
tooth-picks of Spiders’ mandibles for, 354.
Tooth-picks, mandibles of Spiders for, 354.
Tortoise and the Scorpion, a fable, 330;
Bugs administered in the blood of, 267;
gall of, in medicine, 209;
seeds sown in the hide of, 75.
Torture, Ants as an instrument of, 158;
Flies, 296;
Mosquitoes, 284;
Termites, 135.
Tonga Group, Ants in, 161.
Trade in insects, 229, 255, 307, 366.
Transylvania, Locusts in, 105-126.
Tumuli, Leather-beetles buried in, 24.
Turenne’s aversion for Spiders, 344.
Turkey, beetle eaten by women in, 65;
Mantis in, 84.
_Turnip-fly_, 74.
_Typographer-beetles_, 61.
Ulcers, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 66;
Cockroaches, 78;
Honey-dew, 258.
Unchastity, insect to discover, 367;
punished by Bees, 181.
Unclean thoughts, Flies emblem of, 292.
United States, Ant-lions in, 141;
Cicadas, 254;
Spiders, 340;
see Indians, American; New England; New York; Maryland; Ohio;
Mississippi; Pennsylvania; North Carolina; Virginia.
Urine, Fleas generated from, 305;
forced with Cantharides, 63;
Lice to suppress, 319;
Stag-beetle, 26.
_Uroceridæ_, 142.
_Vanessa cardui_, 226, 230.
_polychloros_, 220.
_urticæ_, 220, 230.
Vegetable-flies, 90-92.
Venery, Ants to provoke to, 161.
Veneration for _Acanthocinus ædilis_, 73;
chrysalids of Butterflies, 308;
Mantis, 83-88;
Scarab, 28-44.
Vermin, origin of, 305.
Vertigo, silk-worms for, 240.
Vesicatory, Cantharides as, 63;
_Cerambyx moschatus_, 73.
_Vespa crabro_, 171.
_Vespidæ_, 170-174.
Vessel attacked by Termites, 133;
saved from being wrecked by song of a Spanish Gryllo, 130.
Vienna, Lady-bird at, 17.
Vines, to prevent “Cantharides” from injuring, 64.
Vipers, generation of, 322.
Virginia, Ants in, 152;
Caterpillars, 242;
Crickets, 95.
Virgin Mary, Lady-bird dedicated to, 17, 18.
Virgins, hatred of Scorpions for, 324.
Virtues of Honey, 208.
Vives, Ludovicus, eloquence of, foretold by Bees, 178.
Voluptuary, Scarab emblematical of a, 33.
Vomiting, Bugs for, 267.
Vulture, gall of, in medicine, 219.
Wall-lice, 265.
War, omens of, from Agaric-Gnat, 286;
Gall-fly, 143;
Gnats, 280;
Locusts, 119;
Spiders, 338;
waged against Locusts, 114;
Bees idle during, 184.
Warbles, 303.
Wars of Ants, 151.
Warrior, Scarab emblematical of, 32.
Warts, Cobwebs to remove, 359;
Grasshoppers, 100.
Washington City, Mantis in, 88.
Washington, General, Mosquitoes pierce boots of, 281.
_Wasps_, 170-174, 194, 202.
Water as a charm to destroy Locusts, 116;
found from swarms of Gnats, 280.
_Water-boatmen_, 275-277.
Wax, Bees-, 206-208.
_Pela_, 254.
Way, lost, discovered by Mantis, 83.
Weasel, young of, for bite of Spider, 356.
Weather, prognostications as to, from Ants, 153;
Bees, 182, 194;
Butterflies, 229;
Fleas, 310;
Flies, 290;
Hornets, 172;
Spiders, 336;
Lady-bird connected with fine, 17, 18.
_Weevils_, 68-72.
West Indies, Ants in, 162, 167;
Cucujus, 51;
Grasshoppers, 98;
Grou-grou worm, 68-70;
Musk-beetle, 73;
Spiders, 354;
saved from invasion by Cucuji, 53.
Whales, generation of, 322.
Wheat, prices of, connected with the ocean tides, 188, n.
Whistles to call cattle, made of beetle-shards, 369.
_White ants_, 132-137.
White-clover, Indian name for, 197.
Wildman, anecdotes of, 201.
Wind, Aphides produced by a, 258.
Winter, prognostication from May-bug as to, 47.
Wisdom of the Ant exaggerated, 148-151.
Witchcraft, beetle against, 44;
Bot-fly in, 303;
Humble-bees, 213;
use of wax in, 206.
Witches in the forms of Flies, 294.
Wolf, tail of, to drive away Flies, 288;
Wasps generated from carcass of, 171.
Women, hatred of Scorpions for, 324.
Wood-louse, Death-watch supposed to be, 61.
Woodpecker to keep Bees from stinging, 193.
Wood-carrying Moth, 245.
Wood-tic, 321.
Wool, rain of, 348;
to drive away Ants, 170.
_Woolly-bear Moths_, 242-245.
World, Scarab symbolical of, 30.
Worm in the heart of a horse, 365;
from stomach of a woman, 364.
Wormals, 303.
Worms extracted from children’s ears, 371;
intestinal, Bedeguar for, 144;
charm, 365;
Cockroaches, 78;
oil of Scorpions, 330;
powder of a tombstone, 363.
Worm-wood to destroy Fleas, 308.
Worship of the Mantis, 83-88;
pupæ of Butterflies, 230;
Scarab, 28-44;
Egyptian, of animals, 43, n.
Wounds, _Blatta_ of Pliny for, 66;
Crickets, 97;
Oil-beetles, 63;
Spiders, 359.
Zephyr, Butterfly symbol of, 229.
Zisca, what he meant by “cobwebs,” 356.
FOOTNOTES.
[1] Thorpe’s Northern Mythol., ii. 104.
[2] Jamieson’s _Scot. Dict._ Another designation, in Sweden, is not so
honorable, for it is that of _Laettfaerdig kona_, the Wanton
Quean.--_Ibid._ The term Lady-bird, in England, has been also applied to
a prostitute.--Wright’s _Provinc. Dict._
[3] Jaeger, _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 22.
[4] It is curious to notice the association of this insect with the cow
in the English and French names.
[5] Jamieson’s _Scot. Dict._
[6] Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841, p. 170-1.
[7] Thorpe’s _North. Mythol._, iii. 182.
[8] _Ibid._, ii. 104.
[9] _Ibid._, iii. 182.
[10] Thorpe’s _North. Mythol._, ii. 104.
[11] 4th Pastoral, 11. 83-8.
[12] It probably is induced to fly away by the warmth of the hand.
[13] _Notes and Queries_, i. 132.
[14] _Ibid._, i. 28, 55, 73.
[15] Jamieson supposes this word to be derived from the Teutonic
_Land-heer_, a petty prince.--_Scot. Dict._
[16] Jamieson’s _Scot. Dict._ Cf. Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841,
p. 170-1.
[17] Thorpe’s _North. Mythol._, iii. 328.
[18] Grose, _Antiq._ (_Prov. Gloss._) p. 121.
[19] Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes_, 1841, p. 170.
[20] _Notes and Queries_, iv. 53.
[21] Baird’s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._
[22] Kirby and Spence, _Introd._, ii. 9.
[23] Newell’s _Zool. of the Poets_, p. 48.
[24] _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 21.
[25] A. 1, sc. iii.
[26] Quot. with preceding in Newell’s _Zool. of the Poets_, p. 50-2.
[27] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 317.
[28] Jaeger, _Life of Amer. Ins._, p. 61.
[29] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 316.
[30] Shaw’s _Zool._, vi. 42.
[31] Gough’s _Sepul. Mon._, vol. i. p. xii.--These sepulchral tumuli, or
burrows, are of the remotest antiquity, and continued in use till the
twelfth century.--_Ibid._
[32] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._ ii. (2d S.) 261; and Pettig. _Hist. of
Mummies_, p. 53-5.
[33] Baird’s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._
[34] Cuvier’s _Animal Kingd.--Ins._, i. 530.
[35] _The Mirror_, xix. 180; and _Saturday Mag._, xvi. 144.
[36] N. & Q., 2d S., ii. 83.
[37] Bradley, _Phil. Account_, p. 184.
[38] _N. Dict. d’Hist. Nat._, xxii. 81.
[39] _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, _Lond._, 1838, ii. 156.
[40] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 149. Topsel’s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1006.
[41] Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 533.
[42] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 34. Holl. _Trans._, p. 326. K.
[43] James’ _Med. Dict._ Cf. Brookes’ _Nat. Hist. of Ins._, p. 321.
[44] _Amoreux_, p. 154. Burmeister’s _Manl. of Entomol._, p. 561.
Keferot. _Uber den unmittelbaren Nutzen der Insekten_, Erfurt, 1829,
4to, p. 8-10. Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 303, note. Shaw’s _Zool._, vi.
28, note.
[45] _Nat. Hist._, xvii. 37.
[46] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 255, note.
[47] _Ins. Archit._, p. 252.
[48] Detharding _de Ins. Coleop. Danicis_, 9. Quot. by Kirb. and Sp.
_Introd._, i. 33.
[49] _Northern Mythol._, ii. 53.
[50] Bjornstj. _Theog. of Hindoos_, p. 108.
[51] Oliv. Col. I. 3, viii. 59. Cuvier, _An. King.--Ins._, i. 452.
[52] Cuvier, _qua supra_.
[53] Donovan’s _Ins. of China_, p. 4.
[54] Cuvier, _qua supra_.
[55] De Pauw’s Sacred-beetle of the Egyptians was “the great golden
Scarabee, called by some the Cantharides.”--ii. 104.
[56] Wilkinson, _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259.
[57] Val. _Hieroglyphica_, p. 93-5.
[58] _Ibid._
[59] Plut. _Of Isis and Osiris_, p. 220. The translation of this passage
as given by Philemon Holland is as follows: “The Fly called the Beetill
they (the Egyptians) reverence, because they observe in them I wot not
what little slender Images (like as in drops of water we see the
resemblance of the Sun) of the Divine power.... As for the Beetills,
they hold, that throughout all their kinds there is no female, but all
the males do blow or cast their seed into a certain globus or round
matter in the form of balls, which they drive from them and roll to and
fro contrariwise, like as the Sun, when he moveth himself from the West
to the East, seemeth to turn about the Heaven clean contrary.”--p. 1071,
ed. of 1657.
[60] Quot. by Montfaucon, _Antiq._, vol. ii., Part 2, p. 322.
[61] De Pauw tells us that the description of the Scarabæus as given by
Orus Apollo (Horapollo) is, that “it resembles the sparkling luster of
the eye of a cat in the dark.”(!)--ii. 104.
[62] Horap., i. 10.
[63] _Anct. Egypt._, i. (1st S.) 296.
[64] Horap., _Hierogl._, i. 10.
[65] _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 258.
[66] _Treasvrie_, B. 7. c. 14, p. 662. Printed 1613.
[67] Horap. _Hierog._, i. 10.
[68] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[69] _Of Isis, &c._ Holl. _Transl._, p. 1051.
[70] Ælian, x. 15.
[71] Wilkinson, _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.
[72] _Of Isis, &c._, _qua supra_.
[73] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.
[74] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.
[75] _Ibid._
[76] Pettigrew, _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.
[77] _Ibid._
[78] _Ibid._
[79] Travels, ii. 306 (?).
[80] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[81] _Ibid._ Vide Pierius’ _Hieroglyph._, p. 76-80. Solis operum
similitudo; Mundus; Generatio; Vnigenitus; Deus in humano corpore; Vir,
paterve; Bellator strenuus; Sol; Luna; Mercurius; Febris lethalis a
sole; Virtus enervata deliciis.
[82] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[83] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.
[84] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.
[85] De Pauw, ii. 104.
[86] Pettig. _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.
[87] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 256.
[88] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 322.
[89] _Ibid._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.
[90] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259, note.
[91] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 259, note.
[92] _Ibid._
[93] Bunsen, _Egypt’s Place_, i. 504, fig. 116; i. 508, fig. 169.
[94] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, i. (2d S.) 258, fig.
[95] Bunsen, _Ibid._, i. 572, fig. 12; i. 576, fig. 9; i. 582, fig. 3.
[96] Bunsen, _Ibid._, i. 617-632.
[97] Bunsen’s _Egypt’s Place_, iii. 142.
[98] _Ibid._
[99] Quot. by Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 323.
[100] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 257.
[101] Pettig. _Hist. of Mum._, p. 220.
[102] Maury’s _Indig. Races_, p. 156.
[103] Phind’s _Thebes_, p. 130.
[104] Donovan, _Ins. of China_, p. 3.
[105] Fosbroke, _Encyclop. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[106] _Ibid._
[107] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.
[108] _Ibid._
[109] Montf. _Antiq._, ii. (Pt. II.) 339.
[110] _Ibid._
[111] Fosbroke, _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[112] There is now at Thebes an arch-forger of Scarabæi--a certain Ali
Gamooni, whose endeavors, in the manufacture of these much-sought-after
relics, have been crowned with the greatest success. For the coarser
description of these, he has, as well as chance European purchasers, an
outlet in a native market; for they are bought from him to be carried up
the river into Nubia, where they are favorite amulets and ornaments, as
mothers greatly delight to patch one or two to the girdles by short
thongs, which constitute the only article of dress of their children.
Through this very medium, too, it sometimes happens that these spurious
Scarabæi come into the possession of unsophisticated travelers, who are
not likely to suspect their origin in that remote country, and under
such circumstances.
Scarabæi also of the more elegant and well-finished descriptions are not
beyond the range of this curious counterfeiter. These he makes of the
same material as the ancients themselves used,--a close-grained,
easily-cut limestone, which, after it is graven into shape and lettered,
receives a greenish glaze by being baked on a shovel with brass filings.
Ali, not content with closely imitating, has even aspired to the
creative; so antiquarians must be on their guard lest they waste their
time and learning on antiquities of a very modern date.--_Vide_ Rhind’s
Thebes, p. 253-5. Mr. Gliddon, in an incidental note, _Indig. Races_, p.
192, takes credit for having furnished this same Ali, some twenty-four
years ago (as it would appear), with broken penknives and other
appliances to aid his already-manifested talent, in the somewhat
fantastic hope of flooding the local market with such curiosities, and
so saving the monuments from being laid under contribution!
[113] Winkleman, _Art._ 2, c. 1.
[114] Paraph. from Fosbroke’s _Encycl. of Antiq._, i. 208.
[115] Of those deposited in the British Museum, Mr. Birch has made the
following report:
1. A Scarabæus having on the base _Ra-men-Chepr_, a prenomen of Thothmes
III. Beneath is a Scarab between two feathers, placed on the basket
_sub._
2. A Scarabæus in dark steaschist, with the figure of the sphinx (the
sun), and an emblem between the fore paws of the monster. The sphinx
constantly appears on the Scarabæi of Thothmes III., and it is probably
to this monarch that the one here described belongs. (On many Scarabæi
in the British Museum, and on those figured by Klaproth from the Palin
Collection, in Leeman’s Monuments, and in the “Description de l’Egypt,”
Thothmes is represented as a sphinx treading foreign prisoners under
him.--_Layard._) After the Sphinx on this Scarab are the titles of the
king, “The sun-placer of creation,” of Thothmes III.
3. Small Scarabæus of white steaschist, with a brownish hue; reads
_Neter nefer nebta Ra-neb-ma_, “The good God, the Lord of the Earth, the
Sun, the Lord of truth, rising in all lands.” This is Amenophis III.,
one of the last kings of the XVIII. dynasty, who flourished about the
fifteenth century B.C.
4. Scarabæus in white steaschist, with an abridged form of the prenomen
of Thothmes III., _Ra-men-cheper at en Amen_, “The sun-placer of
creation, the type of Ammon.” This monarch was the greatest monarch of
the XVIII. dynasty, and conquered Naharaina and the Saenkar, besides
receiving tribute from Babel or Babylon and Assyria.
5. Scarabæus in pale white steaschist, with three emblems that cannot
well be explained. They are the sun’s disk, the ostrich feather, the
uræus, and the guitar nablium. They may mean “Truth the good goddess,”
or “lady,” or _ma-nefer_, “good and true.”
6. Scarabæus in the same substance, with a motto of doubtful meaning.
7. Scarabæus, with a hawk, and God holding the emblem of life, and the
words _ma nefer_, “good and true.” The meaning very doubtful.
8. A Scarabæus with a hawk-headed gryphon, emblem of _Menta-Ra_, or
Mars. Behind the monster is the goddess Sati, or Nuben. The hawk-headed
lion is one of the shapes into which the sun turns himself in the hours
of the day. It is a common emblem of the Aramæan religion.
9. Scarabæus with hawk-headed gryphon, having before in the uræus and
the _nabla_ or guitar, hieroglyphic of good. Above it are the
hieroglyphics “Lord of the earth.”
10. Small Scarabæus in dark steaschist, with a man in adoration to a
king or deity, wearing a crown of the upper country, and holding in the
left hand a lotus flower. Between this is the emblem of life.
11. Scarabæus, with the hawk-headed Scarabæus, emblem of _Ra-cheper_,
“the creator Sun,” flying with expanded wings, four in number, which do
not appear in Egyptian mythology till after the time of the Persians,
when the gods assume a more Pantheistic form. Such a representation of
the sun, for instance, is found in the Torso Borghese.
It will be observed, adds Layard, that most of the Egyptian relics
discovered in the Assyrian ruins are of the time of the XVIII. Egyptian
dynasty, or of the fifteenth century before Christ; a period when, as we
learn from Egyptian monuments, there was a close connection between
Assyria and Egypt.--Layard’s _Babylon and Nineveh_, p. 239-240.
[116] Layard’s _Babylon and Nineveh_, p. 157, 166.
[117] _Hist. of Mum._, 53-5; Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 261,
note.
[118] Wilkin. _Anct. Egypt._, ii. (2d S.) 156.
[119] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 11; Holland, ii. 395. K.
[120] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ii. 785; _Gent. Mag._, xix. 264-5.
[121] _Phil. Trans. Abridg._, ix. 11. Concerning the worship of animals
in general by the Egyptians, the following remarks in a note may not be
inappropriate, as they embrace the worship of the Scarabæus.
1. A class of animals, to which may be referred the cow, dog, sheep, and
ibis, were _at first_ naturally protected and respected out of gratitude
for the benefits derived from them. But in time, it is supposed, this
respect, by unthoughtful descendants believing too implicitly the
teachings of their fathers, was gradually enlarged to so great extent
that it became reverence, and at last, perhaps after centuries, worship.
For example, at A time, the ibis is respected on account of its
destroying noxious serpents; at B, reverenced; and at C, worshiped.
2. When at C time, the ibis is worshiped, suppose the masses have lost
the reason (which in the case of the Egyptians is an allowable
supposition, since it is an historical fact that but the initiated knew
the reasons for their manner of worship), and serpents are its food, is
it not plain then that if the food be taken away the sacred bird cannot
live? Hence at C time are serpents preserved and protected as food for
the ibis; and as this protecting care increases as above, till at D they
are reverenced, and at E worshiped. To this second class may be referred
the crocodile, which was preserved, etc. as food for the ichneumon, a
sacred animal of the first class.
3. Analogies between animals, and even plants, and certain sources of
goodness, or objects of wonder, as the sun, and motion of the stars,
were at A time, noticed; at B, respected or reverenced; and at C,
worshiped. Thus, among plants, became the onion sacred, from the
resemblance of the laminæ which compose it, in a transverse section, to
circles--to the orbits of the planets. And thus the Scarabæus from the
analogies between its movements and shape and the motions of the sun,
traced, as we have before remarked on the authority of several ancient
writers, became also an object of adoration.
4. A fourth reason may also be given, which follows as a consequence of
the latter. If such analogy, as, for example, that between the beetle
and the sun, had been observed in the time of picture and hieroglyphic
writing, to represent the sun, the beetle would have been taken. Now, it
is a well-authenticated fact, that these hieroglyphics in time became
sacred, and, if the beetle was found among them, it for this, if for no
other reason, would have been looked upon with the same veneration.
5. Good men, too, to preserve the lives of animals oftentimes wantonly
taken, introduce them into fables and poetry, and connect pleasing tales
with them. The “Babes in the Wood” have so fixed the respect for the
tameness of the robin, that it is even now deemed a sacrilege with our
boys to stone this bird. And may there not have been such good men, and
such tender stories, among the Egyptians, and the remembrance of whom
and which long lost by the lapse of time?
[122] Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 33.
[123] _Ins. of China_, p. 6.
[124] _Nat. Hist._, xxix. 6 (38).
[125] _Nat. Hist._, xxx. 11 (30). Holland, _Trans._, ii. 390.
[126] James’ _Med. Dict._
[127] Donovan’s _Ins. of China_, p. 6.
[128] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 160. Topsel’s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1012.
[129] Cuvier suggests that the _Scarabæus nasicornis_ of Linnæus, which
haunts dead bark, or the _S. auratus_, may be the insect here referred
to.
[130] _Nat. Hist._, xi. 28 (34).
[131] Shaw’s _Zool._, vi. 20. Baird’s _Cyclop. of Nat. Sci._
[132] St. Clair, _West Indies, etc._, i. 152.
[133] Simmond, _Curiosities of Food_, p. 295.
[134] _Ibid._
[135] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 407.
[136] Tennent, _Nat. Hist. of Ceylon_, p. 407.
[137] _Theatr. Ins._, p. 152. Topsel’s _Hist. of Beasts_, p. 1009.
[138] De Geer, iv. 275-6. Kirb. and Sp. _Introd._, i. 33.
[139] _Hist. of Ins._ (Murray, 1830) ii. 296.
[140] _Chronicles_, iv. 326.--The water overflowing the low grounds
brought the beetles for air to the surface, whence they were swept away
by the current.