It is curious to observe how the reason is affected by circumstances. The mind of Dr. Molyneux being long engaged upon the destruction caused by insects, worked itself insensibly into certain grooves, out of which it was afterward impossible to act. The same may be remarked of Mr. Henry Baker, as appears from his article, “On a _Beetle_ that lived three years without Food.” In conclusion, this gentleman says, “As the _Egyptians_ were a wise and learned people, we cannot imagine they would show so much regard to a creature of such a mean appearance (as the Beetle) without some extraordinary reason for so doing. And is it not possible they might have discovered its being able to subsist a very long time without any visible sustenance, and therefore made it a symbol of the Deity?”[121] In parts of Europe the ladies string together for necklaces the burnished violet-colored thighs of the _Geotrupes stercorarius_ and such like brilliant species of insects.[122] Under _Copris molossus_, in Donovan’s Insects of China, it is mentioned that the larvæ of the larger kinds of coleopterous insects, abounding in unctuous moisture, are much esteemed as food by the Chinese. “Under the roots of the canes is found a large, white grub, which, being fried in oil, is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.” Donovan suggests that perhaps this is the larvæ of the _Scarabæus (copris) molossus_, the general description and abundance of which insect in China favors such an opinion.[123] Insects belonging to the family Scarabæidæ have been used also in medicine. Pliny says the green Scarabæus has the property of rendering the sight more piercing of those who gaze upon it, and that hence, engravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their sight.[124] Again, he says: “And many there be, who, by the directions of magicians, carrie about them in like manner,” _i.e._ tied up in a linen cloth with a red string, and attached to the body, “for the quartan ague, one of these flies or beetles that use to roll up little balls of earth.”[125] We learn from Schroder (v. 345) that the powder of the _Scarabæus pilurarius_ “sprinkled upon a protuberating eye or prolapsed anus, is said to afford singular relief;” and that “an oil prepared of these insects by boiling in oil till they are consumed, and applied to the blind hæmorrhoids, by means of a piece of cotton, is said to mitigate the pains thereof.”[126] Fabricius states that the _Scarabæus (copris) molossus_ is medicinally employed in China.[127]