IN FEATHERS AXD FUR. 157 
even- leg will be alive, the jaws will work, and, in fact, every 
separate part seems to live by itself. 
I hope you'll take my word for it, and never try it for yourself, 
for it is a very cruel thing to do, and even naturalists, who have to 
kill these tiny creatures to find out all about them, almost feel as if 
it was wicked to experiment on this poor little fellow. 
But I must tell you what these wise men have found out about 
him. In the first place, Mamma Cockroach takes good care to 
provide for her babies, as do all mothers, from the elephant down 
to the tiniest atom of a bug you can find. This little mother finds 
a dark place under a shelf or table, and there she glues the tiny 
eggs so tight and safe that no jar will displace them. In two or 
three weeks the babies come out, and funnv bits of bus's they are 
too, white as snow, and so little. When they are a few weeks old, 
they throw off their first coat, and come out in a new one, a little 
larger than the baby clothes. Four times they change their suits 
this way, till they are full grown. 
A singular thing happens when they take off their last coat. 
They come out perfectly white, like a most delicate and exquisite 
ivory carving, with lovely blue eyes ; very soon they begin to grow 
dark, and in a few hours they are the dark brown bugs you know 
so well. You needn't think the Cockroach has no troubles. 
Besides the cook, the housemaid and the whole family, who lie in 
wait to smash him any time, he has a smaller enemy that he can't 
run away from. That is a tiny atom of a fly, that provides food 
for her babies by fastening the eggs to the body of the Roach. Very 
little white specks they are. When the eggs hatch, a tiny worm 
comes out, and as Cockroach meat is his favorite food, he finds his 
feast all ready for him. So he just eats up the Roach. 
We who are so much annoyed by the impudent Cockroaches, 
feel very friendly towards this useful little fly. 
You will laugh when I tell you that Cockroaches are useful. 
If you put a quantity of them into a kettle, and stew them very 
slowly, you will get a nice, clear oil, which is said to be good to 
relieve neuralgia. 
Blatta Domestica isn't the only one of the family that lives 
among us ; there's his cousin, Blatta Orientalis. This is a very 
impudent fellow. He'll gnaw your toe nails when you're asleep, 
eat up your books and your breakfast, and in ever}' way make him- 
self an extremely disagreeable bug. 
