36 THE ORTHOPTERA OF MINNESOTA. 



ies, will unquestionabl}' destroy' great quantities of roaches, 

 and keep them, perhaps, more effectively in check than the 

 use of the troublesome insect powders or the distribution of 

 poisoned baits, especially as the latter are so often in- 

 effective." 



Prof. J. B. Smith w^rites that "the most satisfactory way 

 of dealing with these insects is b^^ means of a phosphorus 

 paste, spread upon bits of soft bread and placed near their 

 haunts, all other food particles being put out of reach. A 

 short period of such treatment will usually prove effective. 

 Almost as good is a mixture of equal parts of finely pow- 

 dered chocolate and borax, dusted into the crevices where 

 the insects hide. The mixture should be intimate, and is 

 best made in a mortar, so that with each part of chocolate, 

 of which the roaches are verv fond, they will get also a par- 

 ticle of boarx, which is poisonous to them. This mixture 

 has proved successful in many instances within my own ex- 

 perience, and has the advantage of being cheap as well as 

 non-poisonous to man." 



In an article on "Mexican Superstition and Folk-lore" 

 the following recipe to get rid of coachroaches is given: 

 "Catch three and put them in a bottle, and so carry them to 

 where two roads cross. Here hold the bottle upside down, 

 and as they fall out repeat aloud three credos. Then all the 

 cockroaches in the house from which those three came will 

 go awa}'." This remedy is at all events not a costly one! 



Few people are aware that cockroaches are ol some use; 

 they are a popular remedy for dropsy in Russia, and both 

 cockroach tea and cockroach pills are known in the medical 

 practice. Salted cockroaches are said to have an agreeable 

 flavor — for those that like highly flavored sauces. These in- 

 sects have also the one redeeming character — the^^ will eat 

 the festive bed bugs. 



The remedies against other orthopterous insects that 

 are injurious to agriculture, etc., will be given under the 

 descriptions of the insects, hence it is not necessary' to repeat 

 them here. 



