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I. | An Account of the Scarabæus Galeatus Pulſator, or the Death Watch, by Mr. Hugh Stackhouſe. Communicated by John Harwood, L.L.D. R.S.S. |
AS I ſtood thoughtful in my Study, on the 16th of May, 1724 I happen'd to hear, what is commonly call'd the Death Watch, very near, as I thought, to the Place where I then ſtood: This brought into my Mind, what I had formerly read in the Philoſophical Tranſactions, for the Month of October, 1698, of the Scarabæus Galeatus Pulſator, found, and describ'd, by Mr. Benjamin Allen. While I was thinking upon the Account there given, I fancied I heard the Beatings ſomewhat ſtronger than before, which encourag'd me to ſearch after it; I thereupon removed my Station to another Part of the Room, and ſoon diſcover'd, that I had paſs'd the Place where the Beatings were; upon which, I concluded, that it lay ſomewhere betwixt my two Stations; I therefore remov'd, and placed myſelf about the middle Diſtance; where, though the Beatings did not repeat ſo frequently as before, yet when they did, I found I was ſtill nearer 'em. While I ſtood in this Place, I fancied 'twas over my Head, toward the Ceiling of the Room; upon this, I got upon a Chair, that had a Sedge Bottom, and ſtood to the Wall juſt before me; but ſtanding there for ſome time, I could hear no Beatings at all. I then ſtept down from the Chair, and after I had ſtood ſtill for ſome time, the