The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-26
POOR SCARAbAEUS| FRENCHFARCE N0W N0T BLAMED F0R H0LD|NG BOARDS
 BITING CARNAv0N iAL 0NC BROADWAY
New York Scientists Do Not Blame Ancient Egyptian
 Beetle

NEW YORK March 25.--To pre- serve an innocent reputation it should be said now that no Egyptian scarabeaus snapped at Lord Carnar- von over there in Luxor, Egypt, where the vandal hand of modern science has been ghouling about the tomb of Tutankhamen.
 It may have been descendant of some other bug that was en- tombed alive with the king long ages ago which nipped his lordship and fetched his countess truly on the fly to his bedside. But it was not a scarabeaus.
 The jewelry trade on Fiftieth ave- rue as well as the Psychologists of the metropolitan museum will be relieved to have it known that the scarabeaus, which is the beetle by it's high school name, does not snap at people. It is friendly genius. It's neighborly reputation has had much to do with the new trade in carven scarabs of pade and tur- qrois and macadam. People buy them in rings and dangle doo-dads to give away as benevolent charms so the scarabeaus must be saved from slanderous hearsay.
 Books About Them.
 There are thouhands of them in the metropolitan museum, found in tie swathes about the mummies of men lo,.g since gone to glory. There are books about them based on translatjons from the picture writ irgs on the tombs.
 The popular misimpression seems to be that the scarabs worn in jew elry arc petrified beetlebug, but actual scarabs are dry and crusty like the mummies. The authentic stone scarabs were carved and Were freely sprinkled about the folds of the shrouds to augment the powers of the real beetles in warding off such evil as carnarvon at this late day has visited upon the dead. Doz- ems of stone scarabs are found on every mummy of any rank at all and current jewelry is made in imi- tation of these.
 The beetle was a happy omen. Originally it was symbol of com plete manhood for the Egyptians be- iieyed there were no flapper beetles only sheiks which produced their own sons. without collaboration. Therefore the beetles name was written in the old inscriptions as "Father-World-M
 Prescribed For Brides.
 Along about the spring of the year when weddings were numerous, there was a great demand for. scarabs which the priests prescribed for the brides. believing that they would therefore produce more boy babies than girls, but anyway lot of ba- bies. But eventually some inquisitive person made the discovery that there were two. kinds of beetles after all and so the scabar lost part of it's reputation, remaining, however, as friendly deity capable of lending away misfortune.
 It may have been the scorpion or the crockodile which exerted thls poisonous spell on Lord Carnarvon' using the pretext tf an insect bite to bring him to his bed. The SCOT pion-now there was mean iittie cuss. He and his friend, the crocKo, diie. were carved in stone ana thrust into the shroud pockets oi the dead to do just this very sort or thing to anyone who might come no,sinp around as Lord Carnarvon was The frog is found also. being the emblem of myriads and or the overwhelming. uo.rono,i- ton say they have found living wood hurs Tn toe mummy leases but surely m wood bug bit carnarvon, not peins carniverous. .ho Irrited ctotas census. the odds are that ms ,nrdshin was skewered by an ordl- nary. light-running, 1925 medei ol Eeynt;an mosquito and tnen scratched the aftermath.