OETHOPTERA. 285 



and pupae till they are strong enough to dispense with all atten- 

 tion. 



The Blattce, or Cockroaches, are very destructive insects, as the 

 name, derived from the Greek word fiXaTTTetv, to damage, implies. 

 They are omnivorous, attacking all sorts of dead substances, vege- 

 table and animal. Horace reproaches them with devouring stuffs 

 like the moths : 



" Cui stragula vestis, 

 Blattarum ac tinearum epulae, 

 Putrescit in area." 



These disagreeable insects devour our eatables, abounding in 

 kitchens, in bakers' shops, on board merchant vessels, &c. Their 

 flattened bodies allow them easily to introduce themselves into 

 the cracks of cases or barrels ; so that, to be safe against their 

 attacks, it is necessary, on long voyages, to shut up the goods in 

 zinc-lined boxes, or cases made of sheet-iron well soldered together. 



Chamisso relates that the sailors having opened some barrels 

 which should have contained rice and wheat, found them filled 

 with German cockroaches. This transubstantiation was not very 

 agreeable to the crew ! Other naturalists have seen this insect 

 invading by millions bottles which had contained oil. The 

 Cockroach is very fond also of the blacking on boots, and devours 

 leather and all. One pupa sometimes eats the skin cast off by 

 another pupa, but a Cockroach has never been known to attack 

 another, with a view to eating him afterwards. 



These Orthoptera have a flat broad body, the thorax very much 

 developed, the antennae very long, and the legs thin but strong, 

 which enable them to run with remarkable quickness. They 

 diffuse around them a sickening odour, which often hangs about 

 objects they have touched. Aristophanes, the comic Greek poet, 

 mentions this peculiarity in his comedy of " The Peace." They 

 come out mostly at night, and hide themselves during the day. 

 They are the most cosmopolitan of all insects. Carried over in 

 ships, they perpetuate everywhere, just like weeds ! Persian 

 powder, composed of pulverised pyrethra, is an excellent means 

 to employ for their destruction. 



Most of the species of cockroaches are black, or brownish. Two 



