]l6 COCKROACH. 



means found its way long ago into our country, 

 since it is hardly possible to apply the description 

 to any other known kind*. " A viris fide dignis 

 accepi Blattam mollem vulgari sextuplo majorem 

 in summo templo Petropoli nostrre captam fuisse, 

 quaB morsu non cutem tantum earn venantium 

 vulnerabat, sed et sanguinem altius copiosiusque 

 eliciebat; erat digiti majoris magnitudine longi- 

 tudineque, atque loco muris septo inclusa, evasit 

 tamen post triduum; sed qua ratione aut via nemo 

 perspexit." 



The Blatta orient alls or common black Cock- 

 roach, which is frequently called in our metropolis 

 and elsewhere by the erroneous name of the black 

 beetle, is supposed to have been first imported 

 from the Eastern parts of the world, and seems to 

 have made great progress of late years in extend- 

 ing itself throughout the kingdom. 



The Blatta Americana or American Cockroach, 

 which has long ago been elegantly figured by 

 Madam Merian in her work on the insects of 

 Surinam, is of a light chesnut-colour, and is ex- 

 tremely common in the warmer parts of America 

 and the West-Indian islands: it is somewhat larger 

 than the black or eastern Cockroach. 



* " I have heard from persons of good credit that one of these 

 Blattae was found and taken in the top of the roof of the church 

 at Peterborough, which was six times larger than the common 

 Blatta, and which not only pierced the skin of those who en- 

 deavoured to seize it, but bit so deep as to draw blood in great 

 quantity; it was a thumb's length and breadth in size, and being 

 confined in a cavity of the wall, after two or three days made its 

 escape, no one knew how." 



