Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-17
Scientific Discussions
by Garrett P. Serviss

county-that is to say, the world was
mine. Only the country boy is ac-
quainted with the inhabitants, and the
ways Of life, Of this planet; the city
boy Is aware merely of its human
beings Among my most interesting
acquaintances were the beetles, Coleo-
ptera. CHOW that Greek name fascinates
me yeti
In my explorations on the magic
shelves Of the bookcase" had found
a couple of volumes on entomogy. I
cared nto a rap for the Science" but
the woodcuts and the fairyland descrip-
tions of life In that wonderful world
under my feet took me by storm.
I became a mighty hunter. The
flower garden was my tropic zone; the
fields were teeming continents: the
woods were regions of mystery haunted
by curious monsters that was afraid
to tuoch; the foot-path to the school
house was a Roman military road where
Caesars legions sometimes marched In
the guise of columns of ants, or where a
gorgeous Darius. or Mithridates, playing
that he was only jewel-armored Gin
ctndela beetle, darted out of the grassy
forest bordering the path, and appeared
so dazzlingly scintillant In the sunshine
that I was as fierce to capture him as
II no had been a living diamond. But
always he had the legs and the spring
Of an athlete. There were not many of
his brilliant family that got imprisoned
on my pepper box-abstracted from
the kitchen under scientific reouisition,
More facile to capture, but lacking
In the spectacular, was the scavenger
scarab beetle, disrespectfully called
tumble bug" Indifferent to bystanders
and ontentuous of idle on-lookers, in
dustriously rolling his ball. bigger than
himself, keeping it going, and heaving
up his round back with hard pushing
"a typical MIR. Mind-My Own Business,
though probably it is as often Mira and
Mr.. and perhaps \oftener.
One more reminiscence of my carly
chronological campaigns and then I
will explain the purpose of this writing
My most startling experience was
with the big "elaters,"@ long-bodied
beetles, two inches In length. gray
black with rows of pale-yellow points
down the back. and with the front and
head covered bya dark shield on which
are two huge. staring. oval, velvet
black spots encircled with yellow rings,
so eye-like that they make you Jump.
My first meeting with an elater was
on the trunk of a button-ball tree,
alone in the woods. He looked to my
startled eyes "as big as an elephant" {"
! did not know what hew as, for there
was no picture of him in my book. But
knew he was an insect, and a rare
one at least for ne), and my resolution
to have him In my pepper-box never
waivered, notwithstanding my innate
efear of the extraordinary beast
Besides, in spite OF the ominous
eyes" there was the attraction Of a
singular beauty about his shapely form
and aristocratically tasteful coloring.
spread my hand cautiously over him
and grabbed He emnitted a click that
sounded to me, IN that exciting moment.
as loud as the crack Of a pistol, and
there was violent concussion against
the palm of my hand He had "elated''
himself with a vengeance and dropped
him and locker at my hand. There was
no harm done except the shock to my
nerves
Presently I espied another specimen
on the same tree. and him I captured
triumphantly. The trick of the elater is
to snap a kind of horn-spring on the
under side of its thorax In such q way
as to project the insect bodily into the
air. This is its way Of getting on its
feet when overturned.
I recall these things because of the
opportunity open to every intelligentiy
curious youngster to make personal ac-
quaintances in the insect world which
will amuse him and give him useful
thoughts during all the remainder of his
life. Then, too, the great natural his
tory museums have now reached q point
of development whore they can almost
supply the place OF the outdoor world
for those who have the desire, but not
! the time. to go IN search OF such things
amid their natural environment.
There is. for instance, in the Aneri-
| can Natural History Museum, freely
open to the inspection Of anybody wise
enough TO take advantage of tho op-
portunity, truly wonderful collection
of beetles. They have thera "beetie
spectrum" which consists of an ar
rangement of those insects SO chosen
that they show, in the proper order,
nearly all the ooiors ana shades of color
from the red to the violet OF tha solar
spectrum.
This display of color was one OF the
things which made my youthful venture
into entomology, SO fascinating. used
to chase coiored beetles, which seemed
to me miracles of unbelievable beauty,
Tho family of the little epetted-baeked
Iadybug," or iadybird {Coeciueilidae)
can show you such O. series pfgem =iike
forms as no art could match, And the
other insects besides the beetles are no
| less dramatically wonderful,
=