74 



Crradurg of Natural 



OHUROH-TARD BEET1.B. 

 fBT.A.P8 MORTISA.OA.") 



Physicians in Ireland, of a case of a woman, 

 aged twenty -eight, who emitted as many as 

 two thousand larvje of this insect at various 

 times, as well as one pupa and one imago ; 

 and which probably originated in an absurd 

 and superstitious practice, which she had for 

 some time followed, of drinking daily for a 

 certain time a quantity of water mixed with 

 clay, taken from the graves of two Catholic 

 priests, and eating large pieces of chalk. One 

 of these beetles was immersed repeatedly into 

 spirits of wine, but revived after remain- 

 ing therein all night, and afterwards lived 

 three years." 



BLATTID.33. A family of voracious in- 

 sects, of the order Orthoptera, of which 

 the troublesome Cockroach (Blatta orien- 

 talis) is a well-known example. These very 

 destructive and disagreeable insects form one 

 of the principal inconveniences of hot cli- 

 mates. They devour various animal and 

 vegetable substances ; and some species have 

 a highly unpleasant smell, which is apt to 

 remain on such articles as they have passed 

 over. The largest of the genus is the 



BLATTA GIG ANTE A of Linnams, which 

 is a native of many of the warmer parts of 

 Asia, Africa, and South America. The fol- 

 lowing description of them is said, by those 

 who have visited the countries where they 

 abound, to be by no means overcharged : 

 " They plunder and erode all kinds of vic- 

 tuals, drest and undrest, and damage all sorts 

 of clothes, especially such as are touched with 

 powder, pomatum, and similar substances ; 

 everything made of leather, books, paper, 

 and various other articles, which if they do 

 not destroy, at least they soil, as they fre- 

 quently deposit a drop of their excrement 

 where they settle, and some way or other 

 by that means damage what they cannot 

 devour. They fly into the flame of candles, 

 and sometimes into the dishes ; are very 

 fond of ink and of oil, into which they are 

 apt to fall and perish ; in which case they 

 soon turn most offensively putrid : so that 

 a man might as well sit over the cada- 

 verous body of a large animal as write with 

 the ink in which they have died. They 

 often fly into persons' faces or bosoms, and 

 their legs being armed with sharp spines, the 

 pricking excites a sudden horror not easily 

 described. In old houses they swarm by 

 myriads, making every part filthy beyond 

 description wherever they harbour, which in 



the day-time is in dark corners, behind 

 clothes, 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 resem- 

 bles a pretty smart knocking with the 

 knuckle upon the wainscotting. The Blatta 

 Gigantea, in the West Indies, is therefore 

 frequently known by the name of the drum- 

 mer. Three or four of these noisy creatures 

 will sometimes be impelled to answer one 

 another, and cause such a drumming noise 

 that none but those who are very good sleep- 

 ers 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 ex- 

 tremities attacked, and the ends of the toes 

 and fingers of the dead are frequently strip- 

 ped both of the skin and flesh." 



The BLATTA ORIENT ALIS, or com- 

 mon black Cockroach, which is frequently 

 called in our country by the erroneous name 

 of the black beetle, is supposed to have come 

 originally from Asia ; but of that there is 

 some little doubt. In its mature state the 

 male has wings extending only half the 

 length of the body ; the female has only 

 rudimentary wings: her eggs, which are 

 about sixteen in number, are enclosed in an 

 oblong case, which she carries about with 

 her at first/fixed to the abdomen by a son 

 of gum. The nocturnal habits and ravages 

 of this species are too well known to require 

 any description. 



The BLATTA AMERICANA, or Ameri- 

 can Cockroach, is of a light chestnut or 

 reddish colour, and is extremely common 

 in the warmer parts of America and the 

 West India islands. It is somewhat larger 

 than the black or eastern Cockroach. These 

 Blattae lay their eggs in heaps, and wrap 

 them all round in webs or bags, after the 

 manner of some spiders. When the eggs are 

 hatched, the young ones appear quite perfect, 

 and leave their shells almost instantaneously. 

 Being at first no larger than ants, they are 

 capable of penetrating through the smallest 

 apertures into boxes and chests, where they 

 destroy everything within their reach. When 

 arrived at their full growth, they cast their 

 skins, which burst on their backs ; and then 

 the Blattae, or Cockroaches, are perfectly 

 formed : their wings are at first soft and 

 whitish, and they soon become red ; but their 

 heads, horns, and the rest of their bodies, 

 retain the same shapes and colours as they 

 possessed before the exuvias were shed. 



BLEAK. (Cyprinusalburnus.~) ThisMala- 

 copterygious fish belongs to the Carp family, 

 and is very common in many of our own 

 rivers : the length about five or six inches ; 

 shape slender, with the body much com- 

 pressed s colour bright silvery, the back olive- 

 green; fins pellucid; scales deciduous; and the 

 tail forked. Bleaks generally keep together 

 in large shoals; and at certain seasons they 

 are observed to tumble about near the surface 

 of the water as if incapable of swimming to 



