828 INSECTA—COCKROACH. 
THE GIGANTIC COCKROACH : 
Tur 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 coca:oaches, are a 
race of pestiferous beings, equally noisome and mischievous w 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 clothing, 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. 
1 Blatta gigantea. The order Orthoptera, to which this genus belongs, has elytra 
coriaceous, the margin of the one covering the margin of the other; mouth wih mandi- 
bles; wings folded longitudinally, and sometimes behind transversely ; metam srphosis 
semicomplete. 
