COCKROACH. 
115 
being armed with sharp spines, the pricking ex- 
cites a sudden horror not easily describe^d. In 
old houses they swarm by myriads, making every 
part filthy beyond description wherever they har- 
bour, which in the day-time is in dark corners, 
behind all sorts of cloaths, in trunks, boxes, and 
in short every place where they can lie concealed. 
In old timber and deal houses, when the family 
is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among 
other disagreeable properties, has the power of 
making a noise which very much resembles a 
pretty smart knocking with the knuckle upon the 
wainscotting. The Blatta gigantea of Linnaeus 
in the West Indies is therefore frequently known 
by the name of the Drummer. Three or four of 
these noisy creatures will sometimes be impelled 
to answer one another, and cause such a drum- 
ming noise that none but those who are very good 
sleepers can rest for them. • What is most dis- 
agreeable, those who have not gauze curtains are 
sometimes attacked by them in their sleep; the 
sick and dying have their extremities attacked, 
and the ends of the toes and fingers of the dead 
are frequently stripped both of the skin and 
flesh.” 
This horrible insect seems to be at present 
unknown in the European world, though other 
species have been introduced by ships from the 
warmer regions, and are become nuisances in our 
habitations and warehouses: vet, from an observa- 
tion recorded by Moufl'et it should seem that a 
specimen of the Blatta gigantea had by some 
