or at least damaging, whatever comes in their
way, for all the species emit a disagreeable odour, which they
communicate to whatever article of food or clothing they may touch.

The common cockroach (_Stilopyga orientalis_) is not indigenous to
Europe, but is believed to have been introduced from the Levant in the
cargoes of trading vessels. The wings in the male are shorter than the
body; in the female they are rudimentary. The eggs, which are 16 in
number, are deposited in a leathery capsule fixed by a gum-like
substance to the abdomen of the female, and thus carried about till the
young are ready to escape, when the capsule becomes softened by the
emission of a fluid substance. The larvae are perfectly white at first
and wingless, although in other respects not unlike their parents, but
they are not mature insects until after the sixth casting of the skin.

The American cockroach (_Periplaneta americana_) is larger than the
former, and is not uncommon in European seaports trading with America,
being conveyed in cargoes of grain and other food produce. It is very
abundant in the Zoological Gardens in London, where it occurs in
conjunction with a much smaller imported species _Phyllodromia
germanica_, which may also be seen in some of the cheaper restaurants.

In both of these species the females, as well as the males, are winged.

In addition to these noxious and obtrusive forms, England has a few
indigenous species belonging to the genus _Ectobia_, which live under
stones or fallen trees in fields and woods. The largest known species is
the drummer of the West Indies (_Blabera gigantea_), so called from the
tapping noise it makes on wood, sufficient, when joined in by several
individuals, as usually happens, to break the slumbers of a household.
It is about 2 in. long, with wings 3 in. in expanse, and forms one of
the most noisome and injurious of insect pests. Wingless females of many
tropical species present a close superficial resemblance to woodlice;
and one interesting apterous form known as _Pseudoglomeris_, from the
East Indies, is able to roll up like a millipede.

The best mode of destroying cockroaches is, when the fire and lights
are extinguished at night, to lay some treacle on a piece of wood afloat
on a broad basin of water. This proves a temptation to the vermin too
great to be resisted. The chinks and holes from which they issue should
also be filled up with unslaked lime, or painted with a mixtur