treille thinks; the species he named _Ateuchus
AEgyptiorum_, or +heliokantharos+, and which is of a green color, was
that which especially engaged the attention of the Ancient Egyptians.

The Egyptian also held in estimation, the species _Buprestis_ and the
_Cantharis_ and _Copris_, and used them as he did the members of the
true family of the scarabaeidae, and S. Passalacqua found a species of
_Buprestis_, embalmed in a tomb at Thebes.

At least four species of beetles appear to have been held in
veneration and were distinguished, by the absence or presence, of
striated elytra. The _Ateuchus sacer_ is the one commonly represented
on the monuments. The number of the toes, thirty, symbolized the days
of the month, and the movement of the ball, which it manufactured and
in which was deposited its egg, symbolized among other things, the
action of Ra, the Egyptian sun-deity, at midday.

The Egyptian soldier wore the scarab as a charm or amulet, to increase
bravery;[8] the women, to increase fertility. The Greeks called it,
Helio-cantharus, and, not understanding its significance, were
disposed to ridicule it, as is apparent from the travesty upon it by
Aristophanes in his comedy of Peace. Pliny also again speaks of it in
his Natural History, saying:

"The scarabaeus also, that forms pellets and rolls them along. It is on
account of this kind of scarabaeus that the people of a great part of
Egypt worship those insects as divinities, an usage for which Apion
gives a curious reason, asserting, as he does, by way of justifying
the rites of his nation, that the insect in its operations portrays
the revolution of the sun. There is also another kind of scarabaeus,
which the magicians recommend to be worn as an amulet--the one that
has small horns[9] thrown backwards--it must be taken up, when used
for this purpose, with the left hand. A third kind also, known by the
name of '_fullo_' and covered with white spots, they recommend to be
cut asunder and attached to either arm, the other kinds being worn
upon the left arm."[10]

In the work on Egyptian hieroglyphics attributed to a writer called
Horapollo, sometimes incorrectly called, Horus Apollo, the first part
of which shows, that it was written by a person who was well
acquainted with the Egyptian monuments and had studied them carefully,
we find: "To denote an _only begotten_, or, _generation_, or, a
_father_, or, the _world_, or, a _man_, they delineate a scarabaeus.
And t