ii8 OUR HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



in flour mills, wine-cellars, &c., in England. At this 

 early date, it was, of course, only the seaport towns, 

 and principally London, that were frequented by the 

 insect, and it took a long time to spread to inland 

 and country districts indeed, in all probability, the 

 conquest of England by the cockroach is hardly yet 

 complete. Gilbert White, writing towards the close of 

 the last century, speaks of the cockroach as an unusual 

 insect in the village of Selborne, saying that he had 

 never seen it in his house before ; and no doubt there 

 are evel^L now remote country places whither it has 

 not yet penetrated. 



Cockroaches are strictly nocturnal in habits, seeking 

 in the daytime the utmost concealment. Hence it 

 happens that they often exist in our houses in multi- 

 tudes that are perfectly unsuspected until one surprises 

 them in their midnight revels. You visit the kitchen 

 after the lights are out; and as you approach, a faint 

 rustling like the rattling of distant rain, or the pattering 

 of tiny feet, catches your ear. You throw a light on 

 the scene, and on the floor stands revealed a sort of 

 pandemonium, crowded with dark forms hurrying hither 

 and thither, hastening to get into obscure corners away 

 from the glare of the hateful and unexpected light. But 

 when you go in again by daylight they have all dis- 

 appeared, and no trace of them can be seen. They have 

 packed and squeezed themselves away into niches, cracks, 

 and crevices, under sacks or matting, behind jars or 

 pans, or even under boards, bricks, or stones any- 

 where to be out of the light. The flatness of their 

 bodies gives them unusual facilities for thus bestowing 

 themselves. 



They have a double reason for frequenting the 

 kitchen premises. First, a tolerably high temperature is 



