BLA 



BLE 



taons : they plunder and erode all kinds 

 of victuals,' drest and undrest, and damage 

 all sorts of clothing, especially those 

 which are touched with powder, poma- 

 tum, and similar substances ; every thing 

 made of leather, books, paper, and va- 

 rious other articles, which, if they do not 

 destroy, at least they soil, as they fre- 

 quently deposit a drop of their excre- 

 ment where they settle, and some way 

 fir other by that means damage what 

 they cannot devour. They fiy into the 

 flame of candles, and sometimes into the 

 dishes ; are very fond of ink and oil, into 

 which they are apt to fall and perish. In 

 this case they turn most offensively pu- 

 trid, 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 person's 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, mak- 

 ing every part filthy beyond description 

 wherever they harbour, which in the 

 day-time is in dark corners, behind all 

 sorts of clothes, in trunks, boxes, and in 

 short every place where they can lie con- 

 cealed. In old timber and deal houses, 

 when the family is retired at night to 

 sleep, this insect, among other disagree- 

 able properties, has the power of making 

 a noise, which very much resembles a 

 pretty smart knocking with the knuckle 

 upon the wainscotting. TheB.gigantea, 

 in the West Indies, is therefore frequent- 

 ly known by the name of the drummer. 

 Three or four of these noisy creatures 

 will sometimes be impelled to answer one 

 another, and cause such a drumming 

 noise, that none but those who are very 

 good sleepers can rest for them. What 

 is most disagreeable, those who have not 

 g-ause curtains are sometimes attacked by 

 them in their sleep : the sick and the dy- 

 ing have their extremities attacked, and 

 the ends of the toes and fingers of the 

 dead are frequently stripped both of the 

 skin and flesh. This insect is not at pre- 

 sent known in Europe, though many of 

 the other species, of which Gmelin enu- 

 merates 47, have been introduced by 

 ships from the warmer regions, and are 

 become nuisances in our houses. It has 

 been supposed that the gigantea has been 

 seen once at least in our own country, 

 concerning which Mouffet writes : " I 

 have heard from people worthy of credit, 

 that one of the blattae was found on the 

 roof of Peterborough church, which was 

 six times larger than the common blatta, 

 and which not only pierced the skin of 



those who endeavoured to seize it, but 

 bit so deep as to draw blood very copi- 

 ously : it was as large as one's thumb, 

 and being confined in the cavity of the 

 wall, after two or three days it made its 

 escape, unnoticed by any one." In Asia 

 this species is as large as a good sized 

 hen's eg-g. B. orientalis, or black cock- 

 roach, is found in America, and has long 

 been naturalized in Europe : female with 

 mere rudiments of wing-cases and wings : 

 egg subcylindrical, with a crenate ridge, 

 and half as large as the abdomen. B. aiiie- 

 ricana is native of America, and has of 

 late years appeared in Europe, having 

 been taken over in raw sugar. It is 

 of a feruginous colour, the shield of the 

 thorax whitish behind. B. irrorata is 

 nearly as large as B. gigantea, and is a 

 native of New Holland ; head pale ; front 

 subferuginous ; the hind margin brown ; 

 wing-cases with an abbreviated black 

 line at the base. 



BLAZONING, or BLAZOXUT, in he- 

 raldry, the art of decyphering the arms 

 of noble families. The word originally 

 signified the blowing or winding of ahorn^ 

 and was introduced into heraldry as a 

 term denoting the description of things 

 borne in arms, with their proper signifi- 

 cations and intendments, from an ancient 

 custom the heralds, who were judges, 

 had of winding a horn at jousts and tour- 

 naments, when they explained and record- 

 ed the achievments of knights. 



In blazoning a coat of arms, you must 

 always begin with the field, and next pro- 

 ceed" to the chai-ge ; and if there be ma- 

 ny tilings borne in the field, you must first 

 name that which is immediately lying on 

 the field. Your expressions must be ve- 

 ry short and expressive, without any ex- 

 pletives, needless repetitions, or particle?. 

 Such terms for the colour must be used 

 as are agreeable to the station and quality 

 of the bearer. All persons beneath the 

 degree of a noble must have their coats 

 blazoned by colours and metals, noble- 

 men by precious stones, and kings anil 

 princes by planets. 



BLEACHING, in the arts, is a process 

 that consists of a series of operations, 

 partly chemical and partly mechanical, t 

 which vegetable and animal fibres are sub- 

 jected, for the purpose of discharging 

 their natural colour, and thus rendering 

 them white, either before or after they 

 have been manufactured. Now as ajmost 

 all the articles of clothing are formed 

 of vegetable or animal fibres, and as these 

 are, for the most part, required to be 

 made as white as possible, either t fre 





