Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Entomology.djvu/230

224 the cadaverous body of a large animal, as write with the ink in which they have died. They often fly into persons' faces or bosoms, and, their legs being armed with long spines, the pricking excites a sudden horror not easily described. In old houses they swarm by myriads, making every part filthy beyond description wherever they harbour, 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 are retired at night to sleep, this insect, among other disagreeable properties, has the power of making a noise which very much resembles a pretty smart knocking with the knuckles upon the wainscotting. The Blatta gigantea of Linnæus in the West Indies, are, therefore, frequently known by the name of drummers; three or four of these noisy creatures will sometimes be impelled to answer one another, and cause such a drumming noise that none but those who are very good sleepers can rest for them. What is most disagreeable, those who have not gauze curtains are sometimes attacked by them in their sleep. The sick and dying have their extremities attacked, and the ends of the toes and fingers of the dead are frequently stripped of both skin and flesh." The species to which the above account principally refers has been figured on the adjoining plate as a conspicuous and characteristic example of its tribe.