COCKROACHES 13 



the cocoon, or egg-case, is built up. Each egg 

 is fertiHsed by a spermatozoon which has been 

 deposited by the male in the spermatheca 

 of the female. The eggs are placed in a 

 double row, eight in each row, facing each 

 other, and, as they gradually develop, it 

 becomes apparent that the ventral face of, one 

 row faces the ventral face of the other row — 

 just as the little choir-boys on the Gospel 

 side of a chancel face the little choir-boys on 

 the Epistle side, but much nearer together — and 

 that their heads are all directed towards the 

 corrugated ridge. 



They are at first quite white, but with large 

 black eyes, and it has often struck me how 

 surprised they must be when they awake 

 to consciousness and find themselves staring 

 at a brother or sister cockroach just opposite, 

 of whom they have had hitherto no con- 

 sciousness. The ripe embryos secrete some 

 fluid, probably saliva, which dissolves the 

 ridge, and it is through this dissolved or 

 softened ridge that they ultimately make 

 their way into the outer world. 



Young cockroaches are very active, running 

 about and seeking everywhere for any food 

 of a starchy nature. They are, in fact, 

 miniatures of their parents, for a cockroach, 

 like many of the primitive insects, has a 

 direct development, and there are no such 



