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? At one time the ravages of the _Dermestes vulpinus_ were so great in the skin-warehouses of London, that a reward of £20,000 was offered for an available remedy.[33] Lucanidæ--Stag-beetles. The etymology of the word Lucanus, as well as its application to a species of insect, it is interesting to notice. The ancients gave the name of _Lucas_, _Lucana_, to the _ox_ and elephant. It is said that Pyrrhus had thus named the elephant the first time that he saw it, because this word signified ox in his own language, and that he thus gave it the name of the largest animal which he had ever before seen. According to Pliny, who employed the word _Lucani_, in speaking of the Horn-beetles, Nigridius was the first who gave the name to these insects; and this he did, most probably, from their large size, and the resemblance of their mandibles to horns. Dalechamp, however, thinks that the name _Lucanus_ was given to the Horn-beetle only because this insect was very common among the Lucanians, a people of Italy. But it is probable, after what has been above said, that the Lucanians themselves were thus named, in consequence of the great numbers of oxen which they reared. The common name, _Flying-bull_, given to this insect in different languages, corresponds very well with that given by Nigridius.[34] A popular belief in Germany is, that the Stag-beetle, _Lucanus cervus_, carries burning coals into houses by means of its jaws, and that it has thus occasioned many fearful fires.[35]