HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



177 



repulsive smell, and of a reddish-brown colour. It 

 is a little larger than the Blatta Americana." How 

 the American species can be at the same time larger 

 and smaller than the common cockroach, and how, 

 if the latter is a small animal it can exceed the former 

 which is upwards of an inch in length, I cannot 

 understand. Such being the delightful lucidity of 

 the subject it seems perhaps preposterous that we 

 should try to mend matters. We can only apologise 

 for our temerity, and say that as the insects have 

 long been known as Lucifugae, or "light-shunners," 

 the probability is that some of the accounts which 

 have come down to us were written in the dark ! 

 This may perhaps account for the many synonyms 

 which the innocent creatures have borne. In the 

 dark ages when Linnaeus wrote, they were called 

 Blatta, because Virgil and others centuries before had 

 so named a foetid insect which shunned the light, and 

 was said to be hostile to bees. But such simple 

 terms are not large enough for your educated modern 

 jaw, which must have the old name relegated to the 

 dark lumber-room where the beasts themselves 

 delight to prowl at night, and the fine term Peri- 

 planeta must be invented to take its place. 'Tis true 

 the new designation is Greek and therefore less 

 vulgar, and besides it means "the wanderer"; and 

 as other insects never wander about we must all see 

 ■the absolute superiority and propriety of the term ! 

 Then, lest so elegant a creature should think itself 

 slighted by having only two names, a third has been 

 dug out of chaos by some ingenious being, and our 

 cockroach boasts the name of Kakerlac. To be 

 orthodox for the moment we must call it Periplaneta 

 Americana, but in all probability before we have got 

 hold of the right pronunciation we shall find that the 

 creature has been christened afresh. 



Now for a few words about the insect itself. I am 

 not writing in the dark, for before me I see specimens 

 dead and specimens alive, specimens in spirits and 

 specimens whose spirits have fled, specimens fasting 

 and specimens feasting, specimens young and 

 specimens old ! What more can a man require ? 

 To-day I had to pass a conservatory where the 

 creatures abounded ; so I looked in, made friends 

 with the head-gardener, and while he caught some 

 "beetles," I bottled a few of the hot-house spiders 

 (Theridion tepidariorum) which were so ably described 

 by my friend, Mr. Cambridge, in the July issue of the 

 "Journal of Microscopy." 



From the cockroaches here taken I am able to 

 glean the following facts. They still prefer darkness 

 to light, because their deeds are mischievous ; for in 

 the early spring they devour bulbs, buds, shoots, and 

 young plants by the hundred. Occasionally an 

 albino turns up, as is the case with the common 

 species. The general character of the creature may 

 be gathered from the following descripton of the 

 Blattidae as a family: — "This family includes the 

 numerous species of cockroaches or kakerlaks, one 



of which, under the name of blackbeetle, is but too 

 well-known to most housekeepers. They present a 

 very considerable uniformity of general characters, 

 the body being commonly rather flattened and of an 

 oval form, and the head entirely, or almost entirely 

 concealed beneath the anterior margin of the broad 

 and shield -like prothorax, and so placed that its 

 crown, which rarely bears any ocelli is directed 

 ,/orward. The eyes are large, and more or less 

 kidney-shaped; the antennae long, tapering, brittle- 

 like, and composed of many joints ; the outer lobes 

 of the labium are considerably larger than the inner 

 ones ; the coxae are approximated, the tibiae spinous, 

 and the tarsi always five-jointed. The tegmina and 

 wings are generally developed, although sometimes 

 abbreviated, especially in the females. When they 

 attain their full development the tegmina overlie one 

 another at their inner margins, and exhibit a strong 

 vein near the outer margins, from which branches are 

 given off on both sides. The wings show the usual 

 fan-like arrangement of veins. The abdomen presents 

 nine or ten dorsal, and from six to eight ventral 

 rings, and at the extremity a pair of jointed cerci " 

 (Cassell's Natural History, vi. p. 132). Passing 

 from these general characters to the specific, I find 

 that an average specimen of P. Americana measures, 

 from the tip of the antennae to the extremity of the 

 hind legs exactly four inches. The antennae are 

 fully two inches in length, the body an inch and 

 a half, the tegmina, or outer wings, one and a quarter, 

 the wings a little less. From the head to the cerci, 

 which extend slightly beyond the closed wings, the 

 length is an inch and a half. The colour of the 

 whole body and appendages is a rich light brown. 

 As a drawing will often help the imagination better 

 than a lengthy description, I have sketched the 

 insects in their different stages to show their cha- 

 racteristic features. As I have no space for further 

 details it must be left to the student to consult the 

 usual text-books for fuller particulars. This can be 

 easily done, since the cockroach has been frequently 

 employed as a type, and has also had an entire 

 volume devoted to its study. In conclusion, I may 

 add that the following recipe will be found very 

 useful for tempting the uncanny creatures to their 

 fate. Take three pounds of oatmeal, or meal of 

 Indian corn, and mix with it a pound of white lead ; 

 moisten with treacle so as to form a good paste, and 

 put a portion down at night in the infested building. 

 Repeat for a few nights alternately, and in the • 

 morning remove the paste and the corpses to a 

 convenient place. 

 Carlisle. 



No. 38 of " The Book-lover's Leaflet," one of the 

 most interesting monthly-book catalogues, by 

 Messrs. Pickering & Chatto, is to hand. The short 

 paragraphs, &c, attached to many of the titles make 

 this catalogue more than usually interesting. 



