GREAT COCKROACH. 
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depredations : every thing that comes in their way 
is damaged by them ; all sorts of clothing, and all 
kinds of victuals, drest and undrest, are indiscrimi- 
nately plundered or spoiled: every thing made 
of leather; books, paper, and various other arti- 
cles, are damaged by these insects, as they fre- 
quently deposit a drop of their excrement where 
they settle, and thus injure what they cannot de- 
stroy. They often fly into persons’ faces or bosoms ; 
and their legs being armed with sharp spines, the 
pricking excites a sudden horror not easily de- 
scribed. It appears that if one of them falls into 
some ink, of which they are very fond, it soon turns 
most offensively putrid, and the ink becomes unfit 
for use on account of the abominable smell. 
“ In old houses,” says the account we have already 
noticed, “ they swarm by myriads, making every 
part filthy beyond description wherever they har- 
bour, which in the day-time is in dark corners, be- 
hind 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 re- 
tired at night to sleep, this insect, among other dis- 
agreeable properties, has the power of making a 
noise which very much resembles a pretty smart 
knocking with the knuckle upon the wainscoting. 
The Blatta gigcmtea of Linnaeus, in the West Indies, 
is therefore frequently 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 
