12 



MORE MINOR HORRORS 



function. At the posterior end of the body 

 the two ' cerci ' are also sensitive to tactile 

 impressions, and probably act at the hinder 

 end of the cockroach as the antennae act 

 at the forward end. Cockroaches are certainly 

 keenly sensitive to light, and, as every one 

 knows, they shun the light, and when detected 

 in daylight or candle-light they make as 



Fig. 5. — Egg capsule of P. orientcUis (magnified), a. External view ; 

 B, opened ; c, end view. (From Miall and Denny.) 



quickly as they can for some dark hole or 

 crevice in which to hide. 



Cockroaches breed during the summer, 

 and their eggs are laid in packets of sixteen 

 in a capsule or cocoon with rounded ends, and 

 with an upper corrugated edge. These cocoons 

 are very like the little hand-bags ladies have 

 carried since the dressmakers denied them 

 pockets. There are sixteen ovarian tubes in the 

 female, and each of these deposits one egg in each 

 cocoon. The ventral portion of the seventh abdo- 

 minal segment in the female is shaped like the 

 prow of a boat, and it is in this structure that 



