S28 INSECTA — COCKROACH. 



THE GIGANTIC COCKROACH. i 



The above insect is the largest of its species, and is almost the size of a 

 hen's egg. It is a native and plague of the warm parts of Asia, Africa, and 

 South America. This, and indeed all the other species of cockroaches, are a 

 race of pestiferous beings, equally noisome and mischievous to natives or 

 strangers. These filthy and voracious insects fly out in the evening, plunder 

 and defile all kinds of victuals, dressed and undressed, and damage all sorts 

 of cfothing, every thing made of leather, books, paper, and various other 

 articles. They fly into the flame of candles, and sometimes into the dishes; 

 and they are very fond of ink and of oil, into which they are apt to fall and 

 perish. In this case, they soon turn most offensively putrid, so that a man 

 might as well sit over the putrid body of a large animal, as write with the 

 ink in which they have died. They often fly into the faces or bosoms of per- 

 sons, and their legs being armed with sharp spines, the pricking excites a 

 sudden horror not easily repressed. In old houses they swarm by myriads, 

 making indescribably nasty every part where they harbor, 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 concealed. In old timber and deal 

 houses, when the family is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among its 

 other disagreeable properties, has the power of making a noise which very 

 much resembles a pretty smart knocking with the knuckle upon wainscot- 

 ing; in the West Indies, it is therefore frequently known by the name of 

 the drummer. 



' Blatta gigantea. The order Orflioptera, to which this genus belongs, has elytra 

 coriaceous, the margin of the one covering the margin of the other; mouth with mandi- 

 bles ; wings folded longitudinally, and sometimes behind transversely ; metamorphosis 

 semicomplete. 



