OBSEBTATIONS ON IXSEQTS AND TEEMES. 837 



valances or curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that 

 happens to obstruct their passage. 



They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech ; hence . 

 beech will not make lasting utensils or furniture. If their 

 eggs are deposited on the surface, frequent rubbing vnR 

 preserve wooden furniture. White. 



BiiATTA Obientalis (Coceeoach). — A neighbour com- 

 plained to me that her house was overrun with a kind of 

 black beetle, or, as she expressed herself, with a kind of 

 black-bob,-which swarmed in her kitchen when they got up 

 in the morning before daybreak. 



Soon after this account, I observed an unusual insect in 

 one of my dark chimney closets, and find since, that in the 

 night they swarm also in my kitchen. On examination, I 

 soon ascertained the species to be the Mafia orientalis of 

 LinnsBus, and the llatta molendwiaria of Mouffet. The male 

 is winged ; the female is not, but shows somewhat like the 

 rudiments of wings, as if in the pupa state. 



These insects belonged originally to the warmer parts of 

 America, and were conveyed from thence by shipping to the 

 East Indies ; and, by means of commerce, begin to prevail in 

 the more northern parts of Europe, as Russia, Sweden, &c. 

 How long they have abounded in England I cannot say ; but 

 have never observed them in my house till lately. 



They love warmth, and haunt chimney closets and the 

 backs of ovens. Poda says that these and house-crickets will 

 not associate together ; but he is mistaken in that assertion, as 

 Linnaeus suspected he was. They are altogether night- 

 insects, lucifuga, never coming forth till the rooms are dark 

 and still, and escaping away nimbly at the approach of a 

 candle. Their antennas are remarkably long, slender, and 

 flexile. 



October, 1790. — After the servants are gone to bed, the 

 kitchen hearth swarms with young crickets, and young Mattes 

 molendinarics of all sizes, from the most minute growth to 

 their full proportions. They seem to Hve in a friendly 

 manner together, and not to prey the one on the other. 



August, 1792. — After the destruction of many thousands 

 of hlattm molendina/rits, we find that at intervals a fresh 

 detachment of old ones arrives, and particularly during this 



