THE COCKROACH. 23/ 



soon as the liobt is removed out come the Cockroaches in 

 shoals, and hold revel all night in the warmth and wet of the 

 room. In the morning they mostly retire to their hiding- 

 places, but, if suddenly disturbed, scurry off to any place 

 which can conceal them, and find the linen-baskets very con- 

 venient for the purpose. Hidden in the baskets, they are 

 carried off" to the various houses, where they escape and soon 

 produce fresh colonies. 



Still, though the Cockroach can be carried about London 

 by the laundress, it cannot reach the interior of England by 

 such means, and is in all probability imported in hampers, 

 paper parcels, and boxes, liaving crept into them while the 

 goods were waiting in the London offices. 



Like many other insects, the Cockroach has a habit of dis- 

 charging from its mouth a dark-coloured fluid which possesses 

 a most abominable smell. This odour, indeed, is one of the 

 principal reasons why the Cockroach is so universally detested, 

 for every place which the insects frequent becomes in time 

 impregnated with this nauseous odour, which sometimes is so 

 powerful that it sensibly affects the flavour of provisions that 

 have been left in larders in which the Cockroaches are specially 

 plentiful. Yet, in spite of this odour, and possibly on account 

 of it, the Cockroach is a favourite food with many animals, 

 almost all insectivorous birds being fond of it, and the hed^-e- 

 hog being so partial to it that one of these animals is some- 

 times kept in the kitchen for the express purpose of destroying 

 the Cockroaches. 



I have even heard of a case where human beings have been 

 free from the usual dislike of these insects. Some thirty years 

 ago two young ladies, sisters, were at school in London, where 

 they had been sent from Jamaica, their native place. After 

 everyone but themselves was asleep they used to get up 

 quietly, slip down into the kitchen, and there catch and eat 

 the Cockroaches. This extraordinary habit was not detected for 

 some time, but at last the mistress found it out, and remon- 

 strated with them. They, however, defended themselves by 

 saying that tliey had seen her eat shrimps, which fed upon all 

 manner of carrion, whereas the Cockroaches were clean feeders, 

 living on the crumbs which had been suffered to lie about in 

 the kitcheu. Even after the discovery it was almost im- 



