having given some disturbance to a gentleman in his chamber, who was not
to be affrighted with such vulgar errors, it tempted him to a diligent
search after the true cause of this noise, which I shall relate in his
own words.

"I have been, some time since, accompanied with this little noise. One
evening, I sat down by a table from whence the noise proceeded, and laid
my watch upon the same, and perceived, to my admiration, that the sound
made by this invisible automaton was louder than that of the artificial
machine. Its vibrations would fall as regular, but much quicker. Upon a
strict examination, it was found to be nothing but a little beetle, or
spider, in the wood of a box." Sometimes they are found in the
plastering of a wall, and at other times in a rotten post, or in some
old chest or trunk; and the noise is made by beating its head on the
subject that it finds fit for sound. "The little animal that I found,"
says the gentleman, "was about two lines and a half long, calling a
line the eighth part of an inch. The colour was a dark brown, with spots
somewhat lighter, and irregularly placed, which could not easily be
rubbed off." It was sent to the publisher of the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society.

Some people, influenced by common report, have fancied this little
animal a spirit sent to admonish them of their deaths; and, to uphold
the fancy, tell you of other strange monitors altogether as ridiculous.
Though, as I before observed, I do not deny but the Almighty may employ
unusual methods to warn us at times of our approaching ends, yet in
general, such common and unaccountable tales are mere nonsense,
originating from want of a proper investigation, and kept alive by an
infatuated delight in telling strange stories, rendered more ridiculous
by recapitulation. How charmingly does our poet Thomson touch upon this
subject--

"Meantime the village rouses up the fire;
While, well attested, and as well believ'd,
Heard solemn, goes the goblin story round;
Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all."

How cautious then ought parents and guardians to be over their children,
and the young people committed to their charge. For, says an elegant
writer, the superstitious impressions made upon their minds, by the
tales of weak and ignorant people in their infancy; a time when the
tender mind is most apt to receive the impressions of error and vice, as
well as those of truth and virtue, a