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COCKRELL

418

COD

crested cockatoo, the latter with feathers pink above and almost crimson below. There is also a black cockatoo.

Cock'rell, Francis Marion, a member of the U. S. senate, was born in Johnson County, Missouri, in 1834. He practised law, served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and attained the rank of brigadier-general. As a senator he has been prominent upon committees dealing with appropriations, military affairs and industrial expositions. He was appointed a member of the inter-state commerce commission by President Roosevelt in 1905.

Cockroaches. The cockroach or roach is a member of the order Orthoptera or straight-winged insects, and is thus closely related to locusts, grasshoppers and crickets, rather than to beetles. Fossil roaches are found in such numbers in the lower coal-beds as to suggest that they were the most common insects during that warm moist period of the earth's history. They still follow warmth and moisture, and for this reason have attached themselves to man. There are four species that especially infest our houses, the German, the American, the Oriental and the Australian.

They are smooth, brownish insects, broad and very flat-bodied, which enables them to spend the day between boards or otherwise hidden. The head is bent under the body, and the eyes turn downward. The antennae or feelers take the place of noses and ears, apparently, and are very long, about the length of the body and very slender, having 100 or more joints. The males commonly have two pairs of wings. The female commonly has shorter wings or none at all. They come out to feast by night. So greedy are they that they have been known to bite through book covers and gilt lettering so as to get at the paste beneath. They leave an offensive odor on all over which they pass, and even flavor dishes so that the odor becomes perceptible only when the food cooked therein is tasted.

Though roaches are excellent scavengers and are reputed to destroy bed-bugs, they are so disgusting that it is important to unite in their destruction. They will invade a house which is free from them, so that concerted action is necessary. They are on their guard against most poisons, but can to a great extent be destroyed by the use of pyrethrum powder. This, however, spoils the shelves on which it is placed, and the roaches are only paralyzed: by it in many cases, and must be swept up and burnt in the morning, before they recover. Phosphorus paste, of which many preparations are sold under patents, is destructive to roaches, but is troublesome and not free from danger. Wherever a room can be made airtight, fumigation by burning pyrethrum is very effective.

Co'coa, a substance obtained from the seeds of Theobroma Cacao, a member of the Sterculia family. This particular species is native to tropical America. The cucumber-like fruit contains numerous seeds which are called cocoa beans. From these beans the cocoa is obtained, and in its refinement it appears in commerce under the name of chocolate.

Co'coanut, a species of the genus Cocos (C. nucifera}, belonging to the palm family. It is native to certain islands of the Indian Ocean, growing naturally on the sea-shore or in its immediate vicinity, but cocoanut plantations are common throughout the tropics. A tough fibrous husk incloses the nut, whose hard shell is lined with the food-material. The so-called milk in the large cavity is simply tissue which has not developed into compact cells. Not only is the fruit itself an article of commerce, but the oil extracted from the nuts, which is known as cocoa-

COCOANUT  PALM   WITH   FRUIT

butter. This is one of the tallest and most ornamental of the palms, the columnar trunk sometimes rising to a height of 100 feet and being crowned by a cluster of leaves from 10 to 20 feet long. As a rule it is found near the sea-coast. The tree begins to bear fruit when about eight years old; the average annual yield is from 90 to 100 nuts; and the tree remains productive many years. The embryo finds outlet in the largest of the three black scars at one end of the shell. The cocoanut is propagated only by seeds.

Cocoon (ko-koonf). See CATERPILLAR.

Cod, a common salt-water food-fish related to the haddock. The average weight of those taken about Cape Cod is about ten pounds, but they may reach the exceptional weight of one hundred and. sixty pounds. One weighing 60 pounds is considered a large fish. They live in the cold waters of the north-temperate seas, and extend into the Arctic Circle. They are remarkable eaters; not only do they eat very many fish, but they swallow shelled moilusks whole, and rare shells have been collected from the cod's stomach. They