In Chili and Brazil, the ladies form necklaces of the golden Chrysomelidæ and brilliant Diamond-beetles, with which their countries abound, which are said to be very beautiful.[27] The wing-cases of our common Gilded-Dandy, Eumolpus auratus, the metallic colors of which are pre-eminently brilliant and showy, have been recommended as ornaments for fancy boxes, and such like articles.[28] A closely allied species, I have seen upon the finest Parisian artificial flowers.
Carabidæ.
In some parts of Africa, a rather curious benefit is derived from a large beetle belonging to this family, the Chlænius saponarius, for it is manufactured by the natives into a soap.[29]
Pausidæ.
The etymology of the word Pausus, Dr. Afzelius imagines to be from the Greek παυσις, signifying a pause, cessation, or rest; for Linnæus, now (in 1796) old and infirm, and sinking under the weight of age and labor, saw
no probability of continuing any longer his career of glory. He might therefore be supposed to say hic meta laborum, as it in reality proved, at least with regard to insects, for Pausus was the last he ever described.[30]
Dermestidæ—Leather-beetles.
In one of the stone coffins exhumed from the tumuli in the links of Skail, were found several small bags, which seemed to have been made of rushes. They all contained bones, with the exception of one, which is said to have been full of beetles belonging to the genus Dermestes. Both the bag and beetles were black and rotten.[31]
Four species of Dermestes were found in the head of one of the mummies brought by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson from Thebes—the D. vulpinus of Fabricius, and the pollinctus, roei, and elongatus of Hope.[32]
It is a remarkable coincidence that two peoples should bury beetles of the same genus with their dead, and much the more so, when they differ so widely, as did the ancient Britons and Egyptians. Was it for the same reason—the result of any communication?