, yet how has he fallen from grace! how humbled in the eyes of man
from that original high estate when, in ancient Egypt, he enjoyed the
prestige above all insects, where, as the sacred "scarabaeus," he was
dignified as the emblem of immortality, and worshipped as a god! The
archaeological history of Egypt is rich in reminders of his former
eminence. Not only do we see his familiar shape (as shown in our
initial design) everywhere among those ancient hieroglyphs engraved in
the rock or pictured on the crumbling papyrus; but it is especially in
association with death and the tomb that his important significance is
emphasized. The dark mortuary passages and chambers hewn in solid rock
often hundreds of feet below the surface, where still sleep the mummied
remains of an entire ancient people, and which honeycomb the earth
beneath the feet of the traveller in certain parts of Egypt, are still
eloquent in tribute to the sacred scarab. The lantern of the antiquarian
explorer in those dark dungeons of death discloses the suggestive figure
of this beetle everywhere engraved in high relief upon the walls,
perhaps enlivened with brilliant color still as fresh as when painted
three thousand years ago, emblazoned in gold and gorgeous hues upon the
sarcophagus and the mummy-case within, and again upon the outer covers
of the winding-sheet, finally, in the form of small ornaments the size
of nature, beautifully carved on precious stones enclosed within the
wrappings of the mummy itself.

What other insect has been thus glorified and immortalized? For the sake
of its proud lineage, if nothing else, is not our poor tumble-bug
deserving of our more than passing attention? An insect which has thus
been distinguished by an entire great people of antiquity has some
claims on our respect and consideration.

But aside from his historical fame, he will well repay our careful
study, and serve to while away a pleasant hour in the observance of his
queer habits. He is now no longer the awe-inspiring sacred scarab, but
Mr. Tumble-bug, or rather "Mr. and Mrs. Tumble-bug," for a tumble-bug
always pictured in the ancient hieroglyph is rarely to be seen in its
natural haunts. Mr. and Mrs. Tumble-bug are devoted and inseparable, and
as a rule vie with each other in the solicitude for that precious
rolling ball with which the insects are always associated. From June to
autumn we may find our tumble-bugs. There are a number of species
included in the g