COCKEO ACHES. 



233 



There is terror in every monarch's eye, 

 When he hears that this terrible foe is nigh ; 

 For he knows that the might of an armed host 

 Cannot drive the spoiler from out his coast : 

 That terror and famine his land await, 

 And from north to south 'twill be desolate. 



Thus the ravening locust is strong and grim, 



And what were an armed man to him ? 



Fire turneth him not, nor sea prevents, 



He is stronger by far than the elements. 



The broad green earth is his prostrate prey, 



And he darkens the sun at noon of day. — Mary Howitt. 



The tropical plague of the cockroaches has been introduced 

 into England ; but, fortunately, the giant of the family, the 

 Blatta gigantea, a native of many of the warmer parts of Asia, 

 Africa, and South America, is a stranger to our land : and the 

 following truthful description of this disgusting insect gives us 

 every reason to be thankful for its absence: — 'They plunder 

 and erode all kinds of victuals, dressed and undressed, 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 frequently 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 cadaverous 

 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 daytime 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 resembles a pretty smart knocking 

 with the knuckle upon the wainscoting. The Blatta gigantea 

 in the West Indies is therefore frequently known by the name 



